Overview
The order Columbiformes includes the very widespread and successful doves and pigeons, classified in the family Columbidae, and the extinct Dodo and the Rodrigues Solitaire, long classified as a second family Raphidae1]. 313 species, found worldwide, comprise the Columbiformes order[2]. Like many birds, all Columbiformes are monogamous. Unlike most other birds, however, they are capable of drinking by sucking up water, without needing to tilt the head back[3][4].
Taxonomy
The Pteroclidae (sandgrouse) were formerly included in this order largely due to this drinking behavior ("The only other group, however, which shows the same behavior, the Pteroclidae, is placed near the doves just by this doubtlessly very old characteristic."[4]); more recently, it has been reported that they cannot drink by "sucking" or "pumping"[5], and they are now treated separately in the order Pteroclidiformes and are considered to be closer to the shorebirds[1].
Osteology and DNA sequence analyses[6][7] indicate that the Dodo and Rodrigues Solitaire are better considered as a subfamily Raphinae in the Columbidae pending availability of further information.
Photos
Taxonomy
The Order Columbiformes is further organized into finer groupings including:
- Family (2): Columbidae · Raphidae
- Species: ZipcodeZoo has pages for 1,489 species and subspecies in the Order Columbiformes.
Families
Columbidae
Pigeons and doves constitute the Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerine birds. In general parlance the terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably. In ornithological practice, there is a tendency for "dove" to be used for smaller species and "pigeon" for larger ones, but this is in no way consistently applied, and historically the common names for these birds involve a great deal of variation between the term "dove" and "pigeon." This family occurs worldwide, but the greatest variety is in the Indomalaya and Australasia ecozones. The young doves and pigeons are called "squabs." [more]
Raphidae
The Raphinae are a of extinct flightless birds colloquially called didines or didine birds. They inhabited the Mascarene Islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues, but became extinct through hunting by humans and predation by introduced non-native mammals following human colonisation in the 1600s. [more]
At least 4 species and subspecies belong to the Family Raphidae.
More info about the Family Raphidae may be found here.
References
- ^ a b "Columbiformes (Pigeons, Doves, and Dodos)". Francis Hugh John Crome. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Eds. Michael Hutchins, Dennis A. Thoney, and Melissa C. McDade. Vol. 9: Birds II. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2004. p 241-246. 17 vols.
- ^ [Curry, Robert. "Avian Orders: Columbiformes." BirdNet. 1 Nov. 2003. Smithsonian Institution. 11 Aug. 2007 <http://www.nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET/ORDERS/Columbiformes.html>.
- ^ "Drinking Behavior of Mousebirds in the Namib Desert, Southern Africa "; Tom J. Cade and Lewis I. Greenwald; The Auk, V.83, N o. 1, January, 1966 pdf
- ^ a b K. Lorenz, Verhandl. Deutsch. Zool. Ges., 41 [Zool. Anz. Suppl. 12]: 69-102, 1939
- ^ "Drinking Behavior of Sandgrouse in the Namib and Kalahari Deserts, Africa"; Tom J. Cade, Ernest J. Willoughby, and Gordon L. Maclean; The Auk, V.83, No. 1, January, 1966 pdf
- ^ Janoo, Anwar (2005): Discovery of isolated dodo bones [Raphus cucullatus (L.), Aves, Columbiformes] from Mauritius cave shelters highlights human predation, with a c omment on the status of the family Raphidae Wetmore, 1930. Annales de Paléontologie 91: 167–180. [English with French abstract] doi:10.1016/j.annpal.2004.12.002 (HTML abstract)
- ^ Shapiro, Beth; Sibthorpe, Dean; Rambaut, Andrew; Austin, Jeremy; Wragg, Graham M.; Bininda-Emonds, Olaf R. P.; Lee, Patricia L. M. & Cooper, Alan (2002): Flight of the Dodo. Science 295: 1683. doi:10.1126/ science.295.5560.1683 (HTML abstract) Supplementary information
Sources
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