NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Pink Pigeon
Nesoenas mayeri (Prévost, 1843)
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
The pink pigeon (Nesoenas mayeri) is a species of pigeon in the family Columbidae endemic to Mauritius. The pink pigeon nearly became extinct in the 1970s and the 1990s and is still very rare. It is the only Mascarene pigeon that has not become extinct. It was on the brink of extinction in 1991 when only 10 individuals remained, but its numbers have increased due to the efforts of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust since 1977. While the population remains at below 500 birds as of 2011, the IUCN downlisted the species from critically endangered to endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2000, and then downlisted it again to vulnerable in 2018.
Wikipedia contributors, Pink pigeon; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:18:23.166272+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Nesoenas mayeri (Prévost, 1843)
- Name authority
- (Prévost, 1843)
- Common name
- Pink Pigeon
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Columbiformes
- Family
- Columbidae
- Genus
- Nesoenas
- 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
- genusNesoenas Salvadori, 1893
- speciesNesoenas mayeri (Prévost, 1843)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Nesoenas. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Malagasy Turtle DoveNesoenas picturatus (Temminck, 1813) | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Rodrigues PigeonNesoenas rodericanus (Milne-Edwards, 1873) | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extinct |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Streptopelia mayeri (Prévost, 1843) (Prévost, 1843) | synonym |
| Columba mayeri Prévost, 1843 Prévost, 1843 | synonym |
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=1125209 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:477SZ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.