NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Trocaz Pigeon
Columba trocaz Heineken, 1829
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 trocaz pigeon, Madeira laurel pigeon or long-toed pigeon (Columba trocaz) is a pigeon endemic to the island of Madeira, Portugal. It is a mainly grey bird with a pinkish breast; its silvery neck patch and lack of white wing markings distinguish it from its close relative and probable ancestor, the common wood pigeon. Its call is a characteristic six-note cooing, weaker and lower-pitched than that of the wood pigeon. Despite its bulky, long-tailed appearance, this pigeon has a fast, direct flight.
A scarce resident breeder in laurisilva forests, the trocaz pigeon lays one white egg in a flimsy twig nest. Its numbers fell sharply after human colonisation of the Madeira archipelago, and it vanished altogether from Porto Santo Island. The major cause of its population decline was habitat loss from forest clearance, but hunting and nest predation by introduced rats were also contributory factors. Protection of the laurel forests and a ban on hunting have enabled numbers to increase, so that the species is no longer endangered.
Wikipedia contributors, Trocaz pigeon; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T03:31:03.817582+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Columba trocaz Heineken, 1829
- Name authority
- Heineken, 1829
- Common name
- Trocaz Pigeon
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Columbiformes
- Family
- Columbidae
- Genus
- Columba
- Extinction status
- Recorded extinct
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
- genusColumba Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesColumba trocaz Heineken, 1829
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Columba. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| White-collared PigeonColumba albitorques Rüppell, 1837 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yellow-eyed PigeonColumba eversmanni Bonaparte, 1856 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Stock DoveColumba oenas Linnaeus, 1758 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cameroon Olive PigeonColumba sjostedti Reichenow, 1901 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extinct |
| African Olive PigeonColumba arquatrix Temminck, 1808 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extinct |
| Nilgiri Wood PigeonColumba elphinstonii (Sykes, 1832) | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extinct |
| Speckled Wood PigeonColumba hodgsonii Vigors, 1832 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extinct |
| Western Bronze-naped PigeonColumba iriditorques Cassin, 1856 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Laurel PigeonColumba junoniae Hartert, 1916 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extinct |
| Andaman Wood PigeonColumba palumboides (Hume, 1873) | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Common Wood PigeonColumba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-naped PigeonColumba albinucha Sassi, 1911 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extinct |
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=177113 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:XBH5. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.