Subspecies Geophaps (Lophophaps) plumifera plumifera Gould, 1842

Museums

Regional Maps

• Geophaps plumifera Gould, J. 1842. The Birds of Australia. London : J. Gould Vol. 5(7) 92 pls. [published June 1842, publication dated 1848 in Vol. 5] [text to pl. 69] [first read at meeting of Zoological Society of London, 8 Feb. 1842 with the type locality 'north-west coast of Australia', but not published until Nov. 1842 in Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1842: 19, see Sclater, P.L. 1893. List of the dates of delivery of the sheets of the "Proceedings" of the Zoological Society of London, from the commencement in 1830 to 1859 inclusive. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1893: 435–440; holotype figured (twice) on pl. 69 in original description].

  Type data:

   Holotype ANSP 13563 ♂ adult (Verreaux cat. no. 41), several kilometres west of Timber Creek, middle Victoria River, NT (as about 150 miles up the Victoria River)
  Comment: for identification of holotype, see Stone, W. in Stone, W. & Mathews, G.M. 1913. A list of the species of Australian birds described by John Gould, with the location of the type-specimens. Austral Avian Records 1: 129–180 and Meyer de Schauensee, R. 1957. On some avian types, principally Gould's, in the collection of the Academy. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 109: 123–246.
• Lophophaps plumifera pallida Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912] [190] [holotype figured on pl. 43 and described in detail on p. 172 but not named in Mathews, G.M. 1911. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 1 pt 3 pp. 137–182 pls 34–45 [volume publication dated as 1910–1911; published 29 Apr. 1911], as cited in original description].

  Type data:

   Holotype AMNH 616021 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 173), Parry's Creek, N WA
  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.
• Lophophaps plumifera proxima Mayr, E. 1951. Notes on some pigeons and parrots from Western Australia. The Emu 51: 137-145 [140] [from collector J.T. Tunney's itinerary, the type locality is probably close to Christmas Creek, WA, on the eastern fringe of the zone of intergradation between G. p. plumifera Gould, 1842 and G. p. ferruginea (Gould, 1865), see Storr, G.M. 1966. J.T. Tunney's itinerary in northern Australia 1901–1903. Emu 66: 59–65].

  Type data:

   Holotype AMNH 616017 ♂ adult, Hall's Creek Road, middle Fitzroy River, WA.

 

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Crome, F.H.J., Carpenter, S.M. & Frith, H.J. 1980. Geographic variation and taxonomy of the Spinifex Pigeon, Geophaps plumifera. Australian Journal of Zoology 28: 135-150 [149-150]

 

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Patchy in pockets in stony ranges of south and central Kimberley Division, west as far as Christmas Creek-St. George Ranges, E King Leopold Range, Mt Barnett, and Durack, Ord and Keep Rivers, WA, north to head of Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, WA, east through all Victoria River drainage, NT, and south to Gardiner Range, WA. Intergrades with G. p. ferruginea (Gould, 1865) on isolated ranges and hills from lower Christmas Creek and St. George Ranges to Noonkanbah, Grant Range, Mt Anderson and Edgar Range (east) in SW Kimberley.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones

IBRA

NT, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Kimberley (CK), Coolgardie (COO), Central Ranges (CR), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Dampierland (DL), Gibson Desert (GD), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), Murchison (MUR), Northern Kimberley (NK), Nullarbor (NUL), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Tanami (TAN), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Northern Territory: N Gulf, N coastal
  • Western Australia: N coastal, W plateau

Ecological Descriptors

Diurnal, granivore, gregarious, hummock grassland, low open woodland, open scrub, saxicoline, sedentary, tall open shrubland, terrestrial, volant.

Extra Ecological Information

Opportunistic breeder, ground-living seed-eater in stony country with permanent water and spinifex (Triodia, Plectrachne), flushes explosively with flap-and-glide flight, drinks in groups, roosts in coveys on ground, nests on ground.

 

General References

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

Frith, H.J. & Barker, R.D. 1975. Food of the Plumed Pigeons, Geophaps plumifera and G. ferruginea. Australian Wildlife Research 2: 63-76 (diet)

Goodwin, D. 1967. Notes on behaviour of some Australian birds. The Emu 66: 237-251 (behaviour)

Goodwin, D. 1974. Columbidae. In, Hall, B.P. (ed.). Birds of the Harold Hall Australian Expeditions 1962–70. A report on the collections made for the British Museum (Natural History). Results of the Harold Hall Australian Expeditions. London : British Museum Vol. 33 xi 396 pp., 10 pls col. pl. map. (behaviour, seasonal cycles, geographical variation)

Goodwin, D. 1983. Pigeons and Doves of the World. Ithaca : Cornell University Press 363 pp. 3 pls. (distribution, behaviour, nests, voice, display, taxonomy)

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 (distribution and ecology in WA, geographic variation and taxonomy)

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
		12-Feb-2010	(import)