The Nicobar pigeon, a species in the Red Books of Vietnam and the world, has been found in Con Dao National Park in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, the park recently reported.

The park rangers spotted good-looking Nicoba pigeons while they were patrolling along a trail on Bay Canh Island of the park on November 3, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

In the list of birds on Con Dao, Nicobar pigeon is one of the six species included in both Vietnam’s and the world’s Red Books.

As one of the most beautiful of the many species of pigeons and the only living member of the genus Caloenus, the Nicobar is mainly found on Nicobar Island, the southwest peninsula of Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Palau, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

This species is classified as Near Threatened in the IUCN Red List and listed in Appendix 1 of CITES as their numbers in the wild are on the decline, WWF said.

In Vietnam, this species has been sighted only on Con Dao so far, mainly concentrating on Bay Canh Island.

When fully grown, the pigeon is about 34cm long, with a dark grey body with lustrous metallic blue-green and copper-bronze upper parts.

It has a very short tail with white feathers, hidden underneath the wings, and is mostly only visible in flight, while the feathers on the bird's belly are completely glossy black.

This species can easily be distinguished by its glistening mane-like neck hackles and by a small black lump on the base of its hook-shaped black beak.

The bird has strong and large legs in dark grayish red, with long pale-yellow talons.

Compared to males, females are smaller in size and have shorter neck hackles.

Despite their swift and powerful flight, Nicobar pigeons prefer feeding entirely on the ground, picking fleshy fruits and seeds off the forest floor, and seeking invertebrates of some kinds.

This species usually lives and nests on quiet islets where there are many trees and there is no human presence or disturbance.

During the breeding season from January to March, females make nests by loosely putting together twigs high up on evergreen trees, where they can safely lay eggs.

Nests of the Nicoba pigeon is really simple but firm to keep the eggs from falling out, with a nest containing only one large egg in white.

Both male and female birds incubate eggs together and the chicks will leave their shell after 27-29 days of incubation and can feed and live independently around seven to eight weeks later.

This is a rare bird species in both Vietnam and the world, valuable both in terms of science and esthetics, but there have been few studies on them so far, according to Le Hong Son, head of the Conservation and International Cooperation Office under the Con Dao National Park management board.

The board is working on a plan, including regulations, to preserve the rare, precious, and beautiful species, while boosting communications to encourage the public to protect the bird, Son said.

The national park will strengthen patrols to detect and strictly punish any acts that affect the habitat of the bird as well as other animals, the official emphasized.

The park is located in Con Dao Island District off the southern province of Ba Ria - Vung Tau.

Con Dao is an archipelago consisting of 16 islands and islets, with a total area of around 76 square kilometers, some 185 kilometers from Vung Tau City and 250 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City.  

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