Status of Yellow Footed Green Pigeon In Bangladesh

Abstract

Yellow legged green pigeon (Holdepa Hariyal) is a beautiful social bird with varied distribution across the globe specially in India, Srilanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal including Bangladesh. Among 5 species of yellow legged green pigeon, there are 2 subspecies ,T. p. phoenicopterus and T. p. chlorigaster are available in Bangladesh. The study was conducted on the basis of information available on internet, books, journals , periodicals, magazines and direct observation of the bird along with their feeding, breeding behavior, nesting and other behaviors in different roosting sites in different areas of Bangladesh. They have yellowish olive-green body, dark golden olive-yellow tinged greenish neck, dull green abdomen, slaty grey tail, bright yellow legs, outer pink-red inner pale blue iris and silver grey bill. They are herbivores specially frugivorous. Their common foods are drupes, berries, wild figs, ficus, buds and shoots of various crops and various grains. The breeding season of the bird is in between March to June in Bangladesh. Its nest is made of grasses, leaves or shrub on a slight platform of twigs in a tree. The bird usually lays one or two eggs in a clutch which are white, glossy in color and incubation period of egg is varies between 13 to 15 days. They forage in flocks in the early morning. At the time of resting, they often perches on the highest branches of a tall tree in pairs or small groups. The bird makes a series of about ten beautiful, mellow and musical whistles.The infestation of different diseases of the pigeon are not common in wild but there is reports of infection of Newcastle disease,colibacillosis and pigeon pox in case of the domesticated bird. The flight of the bird is noisy, swift, strong, and direct. Yellow footed green pigeon is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN. Although the bird is not yet considered as endangered or vulnerable, but to maintain the ecological balance this beautiful species of bird needs to be conserved.