Rodrigues Solitaire
(Columbidae - Please see also Doves)
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The Rodrigues Solitaire (Pezophaps solitaria) was a flightless member of the pigeon family endemic to Rodrigues, Mauritius. It was a close relative of the Dodo, and of the Nicobar Pigeon.
It was first recorded by François Leguat, the leader of a group of French Huguenots who colonised the island from 1691 to 1693. He described the bird in some detail, including its solitary nesting behaviour. The Huguenots praised the birds for their flavour, especially the young ones.
Due to hunting and predation by introduced cats the birds soon became scarce, and when Cossigny attempted to get a specimen in 1755 none could be found. The Rodrigues Solitaire probably became extinct sometime in the 1760s; the exact date is somewhat difficult to determine because similar as with the dodo's Dutch name dodaers, the name "solitaire" was transferred to other birds of solitary habits (namely, to the enigmatic Oiseau bleu, a bird related to the Purple Swamphen) as the original species became more and more hard to find. See also Réunion Solitaire.
A large number of bones of the bird have been collected, but there are no mounted specimens. Solitaires are distinguished by an unusual large, gnarled knob of bone at the base of the thumb. In life this knob would have been covered by a thick layer of skin and used as a weapon (a similar, smaller thumb knob is seen in Canada geese). Observations of the solitaire indicate that breeding pairs were highly territorial; presumably they settled disputes by striking each other with the wings.
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