Соломон аралдарының жойылған құсы

An extinct bird from the Solomon Islands

The Choiseul pigeon (Microgoura meeki) is an extinct species of bird in the pigeon and dove family, Columbidae. It was endemic to the island of Choiseul in the Solomon Islands, although there are unsubstantiated reports that it may once have lived on several nearby islands. The last confirmed sighting was in 1904. Other common names were Solomons crested pigeon, Solomon Islands crowned pigeon and Kuvojo. Rothschild named the species after Meek, giving the bird the specific name meeki. It has been suggested that the Choiseul pigeon was a link between the thick billed ground pigeon and the crowned pigeons; however, other sources argue that it may not have been closely related to the crowned pigeons as its crest was quite different. The Choiseul pigeon has no known subspecies. The Choiseul pigeon is also known as the Solomon crowned pigeon, Solomon Islands pigeon, Solomons crested pigeon, Solomon Islands crested pigeon, Choiseul crested pigeon, crested Choiseul pigeon, Meek's pigeon, Meek's ground pigeon, and dwarf goura. The indigenous peoples of Choiseul called the species either "kumku peka" or "kukuru ni lua", which translates literally as "pigeon belong ground". The wing of the male was , the tail , the culmen , and the tarsus was The wing of the female was , the tail , the culmen , and the tarsus was Adult Choiseul pigeons of both sexes were blue grey overall with a buffy orange belly. It has been suggested that the crests of the museum specimens were flattened during preparation. The bird's chin and throat were sparsely covered with black, velvety feathers, while the neck was a slaty blue that transitioned into a brownish grey breast. However, these reports were never confirmed and must be considered anecdotal. It would be considered very unusual if the Choiseul pigeon were truly endemic to Choiseul as the island hosts no other endemic species, and the pigeon was never linked ecologically with another species on the island. Several local boys told Meek that the pigeon was also present on the nearby islands of Santa Isabel and Malaita. The indigenous people interviewed by this expedition largely believed that the pigeon was extinct in 1929. Searches of the small, cat free islands of Rob Roy Island and Wagina off Choiseul's southeast coast and Choiseul's forested coastal swampland in the 1960s by British ornithologist Shane A. Parker did not discover any signs of the pigeon.

This pigeon was a source of food for the local people, who would locate its roosting sites either due to the bird calling or by the droppings that had accumulated below its perches. After the bird's extinction, the indigenous people have occasionally confused the Choiseul pigeon with the arboreal crested cuckoo dove in modern folklore, and several claims of the pigeon's continued existence turned out to be based on the cuckoo dove. After its discovery, several Western bird collections highly desired its skins; the Whitney South Seas Expedition spent three months at high expense on Choiseul with the primary objective being the acquisition of the Choiseul pigeon. In 2012 the Choiseul pigeon was commemorated on a stamp from Mozambique along with several other extinct birds. The Choiseul pigeon is depicted on the flag of the Choiseul Province.

The indigenous population believed that the pigeon became extinct due to predation by feral cats and, to a lesser extent, feral dogs. As several ornithologists had visited Choiseul and the nearby islands prior to Meek without noting any sign of the bird's existence, it is likely that the Choiseul pigeon was already close to extinction in 1904.