Subspecies Geophaps (Geophaps) smithii smithii (Jardine & Selby, 1830)

Museums

Regional Maps

External Links

• Columba smithii Jardine, W. & Selby, P.J. 1830. Illustrations of Ornithology. Edinburgh : W.H. Lizars Series Vol. 1 Pt 7 pls 101-111. [text to pl. 104] [described from two specimens received from colonial secretary Macleay and quoted with the 'deep crimson-red' orbital skin of birds from Arnhem Land].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown (possibly RSM or UMZC), Arnhem Land, NT, probably vicinity of Port Essington (published without locality).
• Geophaps smithii cecilae Mathews, G.M. 1912. Additions and corrections to my Reference List to the Birds of Australia. Austral Avian Records 1(2): 25-52 [Date published 2 Apr 1912] [29] [as Geophaps smithi cecilae; published without author—authorship credited in Austral Avian Rec. 1: 65; maybe a dark form, status to be resolved; taxon previously cited with CAVS 9011].

  Type data:

   Holotype AMNH 616130 ♀ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 11381), Melville Is., NT
  Comment: for identification of holotype, see Greenway, J.C. 1978. Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Pt 2. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 161: 1–306;.

 

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Johnstone, R.E. 1981. Notes on the distribution, ecology and taxonomy of the Partridge Pigeon (Geophaps smithii) and Spinifex Pigeon (Geophaps plumifera) in Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 9: 49-64 [53-54]

 

Distribution

States

Northern Territory

Extra Distribution Information

Arnhem Land and Melville-Bathurst Ils, NT, south to Daly and N Roper River drainages, and today abundant only in upper Daly and Alligator Rivers catchments—formerly more widespread south-west to Keep River drainage, WA and south-east to McArthur River-Settlement Creek region, NT/QLD border.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones

IBRA

NT: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Central Arnhem (CA), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Northern Territory: N Gulf, N coastal

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, diurnal, granivore, gregarious, low open woodland, open forest, sedentary, terrestrial, volant, woodland.

Extra Ecological Information

Randomly dispersed, seasonal breeder, ground-feeding seed-eater in well-grassed woodland, flushes explosively, flapping high and gliding away, drinks in groups, nests on ground at close of wet season, wanders only locally to seasonal food sources.

 

General References

Frith, H.J. 1977. Some display postures of Australian pigeons. Ibis 119: 167-182 (behaviour)

Frith, H.J., Wolfe, T.O. & Barker, R.D. 1976. Food of eight species of Columbidae, in the genera Geopelia, Phaps, Geophaps and Petrophassa. Australian Wildlife Research 3: 159-171 (diet)

Goodwin, D. 1967. Australian pigeons: their affinities and status. The Emu 66: 319-336 (behaviour, seasonal cycles)

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
		20-Aug-2013	MODIFIED