Pale Mountain Pigeon

Open encyclopedia reference

The pale mountain pigeon (Gymnophaps solomonensis) is a species of bird in the pigeon family Columbidae. It is endemic to the Solomon Islands archipelago, where it inhabits old-growth and secondary montane forest. It is a medium-size pigeon with an average length of 38 cm (15 in) and a weight of 310–385 g (10.9–13.6 oz). The head and neck are whitish-grey, the belly and lower breast are buffy-pink, and the vent and undertail coverts are pale grey. The upperparts are smoky-grey with darker fringes on the mantle and wing coverts. Both sexes look similar, but there can be large variation in individual appearance. The pale mountain pigeon feeds on fruit and forages in large flocks. Breeding occurs from July to September in Bougainville and it prefers stunted moss forest containing Eugenia and Syzygium trees during the breeding season. It nests in shallow depressions or scrapes in the forest floor, and lays single white eggs.

Wikipedia contributors, Pale mountain pigeon; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:51:27.205631+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Gymnophaps solomonensis Mayr, 1931

Name authority

Mayr, 1931

Common name

Pale Mountain Pigeon

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Columbiformes

Family

Columbidae

Genus

Gymnophaps

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderColumbiformes
10. familyColumbidae
11. subfamilyRaphinae
12. genusGymnophaps Salvadori, 1874
13. speciesGymnophaps solomonensis Mayr, 1931

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Gymnophaps. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 279 records assigned to Columbidae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=177403 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3HT3X. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.