Wonga Pigeon

Leucosarcia melanoleuca

Family: Columbidae (Pigeons and Doves, 25 species in Australia)
Size: 36-39 cm
Distribution: Within about 200 km of the coasts of NSW, South QLD, Eastern VIC
Status: Common
Habitat: Coastal, dense forests, scrubs, rainforests
References: Simpson and Day, Reader's Digest

The Wonga Pigeon is known for its "woop, woop, woop, woop, woop..." call, which can go for hours, almost without a break. In older times it was known for being good eating, and is one of the only (perhaps the only) pigeon with white meat.

The Wonga Pigeon is almost always seen on the ground and it is very shy, they are heard much more than they are seen.

Wonga Pigeon - Leucosarcia melanoleuca
Photo: Featherdale Wildlife Park, Sydney NSW. High Resolution (2556 x 1779).

Wonga Pigeon - Leucosarcia melanoleuca
Photo: Wentworth Falls, Blue Mountains NSW

Wonga Pigeon - Leucosarcia melanoleuca
Artwork: John Gould, 'The Birds of Australia', 1848. Original Scanned Image.

Some Birdwatching Resources

Birdsong, Don Stap. From the promotional material: "Following one of the world's experts on birdsong from the woods of Martha's Vineyard to the tropical forests of Central America, Don Stap brings to life the quest to unravel an ancient mystery: Why do birds sing and what do their songs mean? We quickly discover that one question leads to another. Why does the chestnut-sided warbler sing one song before dawn and another after sunrise? Why does the brown thrasher have a repertoire of two thousand songs when the chipping sparrow has only one? And how is the hermit thrush able to sing a duet with itself, producing two sounds simultaneously to create its beautiful, flutelike melody?"

Purchase from Australia (Booktopia)

Click here to purchase from Australia (Fishpond)

Click here to purchase from Wilderness Awareness School $24.00 USD (May not work)

Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds, Peter Slater, Pat Slater and Raoul Slater. This is a smaller field guide, and its advantage is it is easy to carry around. Its size is 21.3 x 11.4 x 2.8 centimetres, or 8.4 x 4.5 x 1.1 inches in the old scale. So it is a good one to get if you want to have your field guide with you out in the field. Unlike most of the field guides it also has illustrations of the eggs of all the birds that breed in Australia. It has very good reviews on Amazon.

Click here to Purchase from Australia (Booktopia)

Purchase from Australia (Angus & Robertson)

Click here to purchase from Australia (The Nile) $28.45 AUD (May be unavailable)

Click here to purchase from Australia (Fishpond) May be expensive.

Click here to purchase from Amazon

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