Mauritius Blue Pigeon - Behaviour and Ecology

Behaviour and Ecology

Few descriptions of the behaviour of Mauritius Blue Pigeons are known; unpublished notes by Desjardins are now lost. An individual was brought to the Netherlands around 1790, where it survived in the menagerie of William V, Prince of Orange for three months before dying of oedema. The only two known life drawings of the species (by G. Haasbroek) depict this individual. The illustrations show a displaying male raising its hackles into a ruff. This is a characteristic behaviour of other blue pigeons, too, and they can also vibrate their hackles. The following description of the display behaviour and calls of this individual was written on the back on the coloured drawing by Arnout Vosmaer, director of the menagerie:

"These dark-blue with lead coloured head-feathers, which they can turn upwards just as a collar, were sent to me from the Cape, but originated from an Isle Mauritius. Presented to the court by the Baron I. N. E. van Lynden 1790, and were called Pavillons Hollandais. One only I have received alive but died later after a few months from dropsy. In the evening 11 till 12 o'clock and many times during the night it made nice sounds 10 to 12 times quickly after another like Baf Baf, and during the day a kind of cooing sound."

The Mauritius Blue Pigeon probably lived in pairs or small groups in humid, mountainous evergreen forests, like their extant relatives. Subfossil remains have been found in mid-west, mid-east and south-east Mauritius, indicating that the bird was once widespread. By 1812, Jacques Gérard Milbert stated that solitary individuals were found in river valleys. They probably became rarer during French rule in Mauritius (1715–1810), as lowland areas of the island were almost completely deforested during this time.

Many other endemic species of Mauritius became extinct after the arrival of man, so the ecosystem of the island is severely damaged and hard to reconstruct. Before humans arrived, forests covered Mauritius entirely, but very little remains today because of deforestation. The surviving endemic fauna is still seriously threatened. The Mauritius Blue Pigeon lived alongside other recently extinct Mauritian birds such as the Dodo, the Red Rail, Thirioux's Grey Parrot, the Broad-billed Parrot, the Mauritius Owl, the Mascarene Coot, the Mauritian Shelduck, the Mauritian Duck and the Mauritius Night Heron. Extinct Mauritian reptiles include the saddle-backed Mauritius giant tortoise, the domed Mauritius giant tortoise, the Mauritian giant skink and the Round Island burrowing boa. The small Mauritian flying fox and the snail Tropidophora carinata lived on Mauritius and Réunion but became extinct in both islands. Some plants, such as Casearia tinifolia and the palm orchid, have also become extinct.