African Green Pigeon sighting

01/09/2010 01:39:21 PM

The African Green Pigeon (treron calvus), although common in the Eastern parts of South Africa, is certainly not a regular sight around these parts as its range only extends down as far South as East London according to the birding maps. In fact it does not even appear on the official Addo Elephant National Park bird list. Therefore there was much excitement around the lodge when one of these beautiful pigeons decided to spend the day in the lodge gardens.

They are usually gregarious, all in small groups, which is also makes the sighting of only a single bird rather unusual. They forage in trees, flapping to keep their balance, and often hanging upside down. As you can see in the photo above there green plumage makes effective camouflage. When in flight these birds tend to fly straight and direct. These birds being fruigivores would find plenty of fruit bearing tress in the Afro-Montane forests found on the Southern facing slopes on our concession within the Addo Elephant National Park.

Bearing that in mind lets hope to see more of these eye-catching pigeons in the future!