| Bronzewing Pigeons | ||||||||||
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| † see also: Columbidae |
The bronzewing pigeons are a group of Australian pigeons with a distinctive iridescent wing patch which bronze or green-brown in dull light, but flashes in many bright colours in the sun as the bird moves.
There are three species always known as "bronzewings" in the genus Phaps, and several broadly similar birds that also have the trademark wing patch to a more or less obvious degree. Bronzewings are ground feeders but capaple of very fast flight. They tend to browse quietly until disturbed, then remain still, their earthy browns blending into the earth and leaf litter until the intruder approaches too closely, at which point the bronzewing takes off with an explosive burst of sudden feather noise, and dissapears from sight within moments.
The dividing line between the bronzewings and the rock pigeons is arbitrary: essentially, rock pigeons are bronzewings without bronze on their wings. Members of the group include: