There are over 3,300 rare species in the Sovi Basin. This is one of their stories.
In 2008 FIJI Water committed $5 million to preserve 50,000 acres in the Sovi Basin, one of the last low-lying rain forests in Fiji, and an important part of the Polynesia/Micronesia biodiversity “hotspot.”
As part of the creation of that historic land trust, Conservation International instigated an in-depth scientific study of the plants and animals living in the Sovi Basin and surrounding areas. As part of a continuing series, we will be profiling some of these rare and endangered creatures, both as a way to promote the work being done in the basin, and the importance and beauty of the animals found there.
In that spirit, we would like to introduce the Friendly Ground Dove, aka Gallicolumba stairi. World, Ground Dove. Ground Dove, World.
Casper The Friendly Ground Dove
Clutched in the hand of a research scientist, “Casper” (not its real name) looks into the camera with a…friendly(?) look on its face.
Actually, we’re probably reading too much into that expression, since the Friendly Ground Dove got its name not from its demeanor, but because it was first classified on the “friendly” islands of Tonga (Tonga was considered friendly by European explorers).
While Friendly Ground Doves are still found in Tonga and Samoa, they are rare there. In Fiji, however, the Ground Dove is much more common, making the archipelago a crucial habitat for these small, somewhat clumsy birds.
Unfortunately, their preferred territory — low-land forests, including parts of the Sovi Basin — has shrunk dramatically in the face of human encroachment. As a result, currently the dove is listed as Vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Redlist of Threatened Species.
Despite its name, the Friendly Ground Dove can fly, but prefers to move on foot, and they live and breed close to the ground, which may have made them especially vulnerable to predators.
While the “friendly” moniker comes from the country, not the bird, the fact is that, like many other once relatively isolated animals, the Notorious FGD was probably very docile when first discovered, but the birds that survived encounters with human hunters, dogs, cats, mongoose and other foreign predators adapted by becoming skittish (thus their other name, the Shy Ground Dove).
Today, the typical encounter with a Friendly Ground Dove usually consists of a brief glimpse of a small brown bird fleeing into the forest. However, on some of the more remote uninhabited islands of Fiji, where mammalian predators have not been introduced, scientists report that the doves are not only fairly common, but also still… friendly.
Highlights
