World Landmarks Wildlife

Yellow Footed Green Pigeon

Yellow footed green pigeons are colorful birds. Treron phoenicopterus is the scientific name for this species. It is a common species of green pigeon that lives in the Indian subcontinent. The state bird of Maharashtra is called a Hariyal. The species eats fruit, including a lot of different kinds of Ficus. They look for food in groups. They are often found in Banyan (Ficus benghalensis) and Peepal (Ficus religiosa) trees by the side of the road. Even in towns, he also goes to gardens.

Yellow footed Green Pigeon

The yellow-footed green pigeon also lives in a wide range of wooded areas, such as dry and wet deciduous forests, secondary growth, scrubland, groves of trees in open country, agricultural land, villages, overgrown gardens, and roads lined with trees. They live in groups. They were often found in pairs or small groups of 5 to 10 people, but sometimes they were found in large groups of hundreds.

We found this group of about 100 Yellow-footed Green Pigeons with a friend who also works for the state forest department as a District/Divisional Forest Officer (DFO). Around Christmastime, at the end of December 2012, I was taking pictures with my Nikon D7000 digital SLR camera and a simple Nikon telephoto lens of 70–300 mm. This is the story of a real photographer, who also wrote this article over the internet; it’s a rare combination.

Hariyal Bird Photos

People often see them sunbathing on the tops of trees in dense forests early in the morning. They sit on tree branches in pairs most of the time. They live in groups and mostly in trees, rarely going to the ground. The flight is loud, fast, strong, and straight, and the call is a series of about ten beautiful, mellow, musical whistles. These whistles are usually the first sign that they are in an area.

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Yellow-footed The green pigeon eats fruits, nuts, seeds, and some seeds that can be eaten. They live in trees and have many different homes in wooded areas. There are species in this genus with long tails, medium-length tails, and tails that look like wedges. Most species of green pigeon show sexual dimorphism, which means that males and females have different colored feathers that make it easy to tell them apart.

Hariyal Bird Appearance

Their tops are grayish green to yellowish green, and their thighs are yellow. The tops of their wings have mauve patches. The green feathers help the bird hide in the tops of trees. The bottoms of their bills are red, and the tips are white. They also have red feet. Adult yellow-footed green pigeons are between 29 and 33 cm in length.

They have a body that is yellowish olive green and a crown that is blue-grey. They only eat plants. Between March and June, the birds have their young. The flight is loud, fast, strong, and straight, and the call is a series of about ten beautiful, mellow, musical whistles. These whistles are usually the first sign that they are in an area. Green pigeons with yellow feet eat plants.

Breeding

The breeding season for yellow pigeons occurs between March and June.. On the sloping or horizontal fork of a leafy tree, they build a weak platform of coarse twigs and leaves. There are one to two eggs. After about 13 days, the chicks hatch. The male’s job is to find small branches and bring them to the nest, where the female makes room for them. The female bird chooses where to build the nest and stays there until the male brings her the things she needs to build it.

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They do a great job as parents. They never leave the nest alone; they are always sitting on the eggs. During courtship, the male puffs out his throat and breast, lowers his wings, fluffs up his feathers, and then solemnly prances up and down the branch, bowing his head and whistling softly as he goes to and from the female. The female will sometimes respond with a similar but less intense display.

Behavior

They tend to be friendly and hang out in small groups. They eat in trees, where they flap their wings to stay balanced and often hang upside down. Their green feathers help them hide well. Their flight is quick and goes straight.

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Bird Identification

The Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972 lists the yellow-footed green pigeon as a Schedule IV bird, and the IUCN lists it as of “least concern.” The green pigeon with yellow feet is a beautiful bird. Adult yellow-footed green pigeons are between 29 and 33 cm in length. The tail is between 8 and 10 cm long. Adults weigh between 225 and 260 grams. Their wingspan is between 17 and 19 cm.

They have a body that is yellowish olive green and a crown that is blue-grey. Often, the forehead and lores were tinged with a pale olive green. They have a lilac patch on their shoulders and a bright yellow bar on their blackish wings. Their necks are a dark golden olive-yellow with a greenish tint; they have a mauve patch on their shoulders; and the edges of their wing coverts are bright yellow.

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The mantle and scapulars are a dull grey-green color, and the mantle has a clear blue-grey band along the top. The belly is a dull green color, with grayer sides and bright sulfur-yellow feathers on the lower belly and legs. The legs of this species are always bright yellow. The smaller coverts are green, and the ones near the bend of the wing are mauve.

The middle and larger coverts are gray with an olive tint, and the tips of the outer webs have pale yellow edges. Outer greater coverts blackish. The base of the tail is gray with a hint of olive, especially on the central feathers. The bar at the end of the upper tail is wide and dark gray. The undertail is black at the base and half-ashy gray at the top. Under the wing, the leading edge is pale gray with a hint of olive.

Iris has a pink-red outer ring, a pale blue inner ring, and a silver-gray bill with a light green color. The female green pigeons aren’t quite as bright as the males. Adult females look a lot like adult males, but they tend to be duller, and their mauve shoulder patch is smaller. The young are paler and less bright than the adults, and they don’t have or almost don’t have the mauve shoulder patch.

Distribution

This bird lives in India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, China, Thailand, Cambodia, and Indochina. Mainly found almost everywhere on the Indian subcontinent except Sind, Balochistan, and parts of the North-West that are desert. They like semi-evergreen forests, deciduous forests, wooded habitats, and secondary forests up to 800 meters.

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Habitat

Green pigeons with yellow feet eat plants. They eat many different kinds of fruits, berries, and crops. They also eat buds, young stems, and different grains. They look for food in groups. In dense forest areas, they are often seen on the tops of trees that are just starting to grow. When they need to rest, they often sit in pairs or small groups on the top branches of a tall tree.

Yellow Footed Green Pigeons are herbivores. They feed on various fruits, berries, and crops. They also feed on buds, shoots, and various grains. They forage in flocks. In the early morning, they are often seen on the tops of emergent trees in dense forest areas. They frequently rest in pairs or small groups on the highest branches of a tall tree.

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