NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Brown Cuckoo-Dove
Macropygia phasianella (Temminck, 1821)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Brunkerville, New South Wales, Australia
JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The brown cuckoo-dove (Macropygia phasianella) is a dove in the genus Macropygia found in Australia from Weipa and Aurukun in the north to Bega in the south, and most inland at Atherton and Toowoomba. It is sometimes called the "brown pigeon" or "pheasant pigeon", but both terms are best avoided, as they can lead to confusion with the brown doves and the true pheasant pigeon. It was one of three new species defined when the slender-billed cuckoo-dove was split in 2016.
Wikipedia contributors, Brown cuckoo-dove; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:15:45.546207+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Macropygia phasianella (Temminck, 1821)
- Name authority
- (Temminck, 1821)
- Common name
- Brown Cuckoo-Dove
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Columbiformes
- Family
- Columbidae
- Genus
- Macropygia
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderColumbiformes
- familyColumbidae
- subfamilyColumbinae
- genusMacropygia Swainson, 1837
- speciesMacropygia phasianella (Temminck, 1821)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Macropygia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Enggano Cuckoo-DoveMacropygia cinnamomea Salvadori, 1892 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Flores Sea Cuckoo-DoveMacropygia macassariensis Wallace, 1865 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Spot-breasted Cuckoo-DoveMacropygia mackinlayi E. P. Ramsay, 1878 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bar-necked Cuckoo-DoveMacropygia magna Wallace, 1864 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Barusan Cuckoo-DoveMacropygia modiglianii Salvadori, 1887 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bar-tailed Cuckoo-DoveMacropygia nigrirostris Salvadori, 1876 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Philippine Cuckoo-DoveMacropygia tenuirostris Bonaparte, 1854 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Tanimbar Cuckoo-DoveMacropygia timorlaoensis A. B. Meyer, 1884 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Little Cuckoo-DoveMacropygia ruficeps (Temminck, 1835) | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Barred Cuckoo-DoveMacropygia unchall (Wagler, 1827) | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Amboyna Cuckoo-DoveMacropygia amboinensis (Linnaeus, 1766) | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sultan's Cuckoo-DoveMacropygia doreya Bonaparte, 1854 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
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.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=177207 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:3X969. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.