The
Madagascar green pigeon or
Madagascan green pigeon (
Treron australis) is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to Madagascar. The taxon
griveaudi, by most authorities considered a subspecies of the Madagascan green pigeon, is sometimes considered a separate species, the
Comoros green pigeon (
Treron comorensis). Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest.
Taxonomy: In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the Madagascar green pigeon in his
Ornithologie based on specimen that he had examined. He used the French name
Le pigeon ramier verd de Madagascar and the Latin
Palumbus viridis madagascariensis. The species was also illustrated in Edme-Louis Daubenton´s
Planches Enluminées D´Histoire Naturelle. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus revised his
Mantissa Plantarum in 1771 he added an appendix which included a description of the Madagascar green pigeon. He coined the binomial name
Columba australis and cited the earlier authors. The specific epithet
australis is the Latin word for "southern". The species is now placed in the genus
Treron that was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot.
Two subspecies are recognised:
- T. a. xenius Salomonsen, 1934 – west Madagascar
- T. a. australis (Linnaeus, 1771) – east Madagascar