Yellow-footed Green Pigeon

Overview

The yellow-footed green pigeon (Treron phoenicopterus), also known as the yellow-legged green pigeon, is a common species of green pigeon native to the Indian subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia. It is designated as the state bird of Maharashtra in India.

Identification

• Adults measure approximately 33 cm in length and feature plumage combining green, yellow, grey, and purple.
• The most noticeable feature is its bright yellow or yellow-orange legs and feet.
• Distinctive markings include a bluish-grey crown, a yellowish-green forehead and throat, a broad yellow or olive-yellow neck collar, and a prominent mauve or purple patch on the shoulder.
• Males typically display brighter plumage than females, while northern populations have greyish underparts compared to the more yellow-green underparts of southern birds.

Habitat

The species ranges across Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, inhabiting lowlands and foothill environments. It thrives in tropical and subtropical forests, deciduous and semi-evergreen forests, and along forest edges, but has also adapted well to human-modified landscapes such as wooded farmland, orchards, village groves, gardens, and urban parks.

Diet

This bird is principally an arboreal frugivore that prefers wooded areas with fruiting trees, especially fig trees (Ficus). It forages in flocks and rarely comes to the ground, staying in trees where it feeds mainly on fruit.

Did you know?

The green and purple plumage of the yellow-footed green pigeon provides excellent camouflage among leaves and fruiting fig trees, allowing large groups to remain hidden in banyan and peepal trees until disturbed, causing them to suddenly fly from trees that had appeared empty.