Proposal (182) to South American Classification Committee
Add Streptopelia
risoria (Ringed Turtle-Dove) to hypothetical list
An article was published fairly
recently reporting on a pair of S. risoria observed and photographed
recently in "wild" conditions in Norte de Santander department,
Colombia (Donegan & Huertas, 2002). A photograph was recently published in
an online report series with ISSN (Donegan et al., 2003) that I believe amounts
to a published photograph for SACC purposes.
Evidence from local people of the
region suggests that a population of S. risoria has been
present in the Norte de Santander region for some time. This species is very
common in captivity in South America. At two local markets in different
locations, I have seen tens of these for sale. I have also observed free-flying
individuals in two other locations in Colombia. A discussion of the status of
this population in Colombia is presented in Donegan & Huertas (2002). This
species is fairly common in captivity and has established feral populations in
various locations in the world, such as in some parts of the United States of
America (Florida, California and Baltimore), Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands
and the Canary Islands. Some of these populations are regarded as being
self-sustaining. S. risoria has "Introduced" status in the
United States (AOU checklist) and some other countries (e.g. Spain for the
Canaries population).
As to Latin nomenclature, the AOU
uses "Ringed Turtle-Dove Streptopelia risoria" for the U.S.
populations. S. risoria (Linnaeus, 1758) appears to be a
long-domesticated form of the wild African species African Collared Dove S.
roseogrisea (Sundevall, 1857). Many publications cast doubt on S.
risoria as a valid taxon. However, if S. risoria and S.
roseogrisea are in the same species (as appears likely), S. risoria should
be senior (whereas most publications use S. roseogrisea to describe the
wild population). The AOU (I think correctly) use S. risoria, though I
do not know if they have considered the point.
English nomenclature for Streptopelia
is rather a mess, with suffixes "Dove", "Collared [-] Dove"
and "Turtle [-] Dove" all used. In Europe, "Barbary Dove"
is more commonly used for S. risoria, with "African Collared
Dove" for S. roseogrisea. I personally prefer Barbary Dove for
aesthetic reasons. However, this proposal uses "Ringed Turtle-Dove",
which is the AOU's name for North American populations, assuming that AOU's
SACC would follow its North American counterpart.
My view is that S. risoria should
be added to the SACC's "hypothetical list". However, it should
probably not yet be elevated to the full list because further research is
probably necessary to determine definitively whether populations are
self-sustaining.
References:
Donegan TM
& Huertas BC (2002) Registro de una pareja de la Tórtola de Collar
Streptopelia risoria en el departamento de Norte de Santander, Colombia. Bol.
Sociedad Antioqueña de Ornitología Vol. VIII (Nos. 24-25): 73-76.
Donegan TM,
Huertas-H BC, Briceno-L ER, Arias-B JJ & González-O CE (2003) Search for
the Magdalena Tinamou: Project Report. Colombian EBA Project Report
Series No. 4. Fundación ProAves, Colombia, 2003, 49 pp. www.proaves.org
at p. 28. [Follow links to "Proyectos -> EBA í Reportes e
informes"]
Thomas
Donegan, 10 October 2005
________________________________________________________________________________________
Comments from Remsen:
"YES. Our Hypothetical List includes exotics for which there is some
published evidence that they might be established, and this situation clearly
falls into that category. Whether "risoria" is a valid taxon
is a separate issue, it seems to me. It is widely regarded as the domesticated
form of S. roseogrisea (e.g., see Goodwin 1977, HBW), and was not
mentioned in Dickinson (2003). If added to our Hypothetical List, the entry
would have to be appropriately flagged to indicate this."
Comments from Stiles:
"YES. Especially for the hypothetical list, I see no problem. (Presumably
if breeding in the "wild" and self-sustaining populations are
eventually confirmed, it would graduate to the main list in some
capacity?)"
Comments from Jaramillo: "NO -
But perhaps on purely a technical point. The hypothetical list I understood to
be a list of 1) good sight records, but no photo 2) dubious records that have
been published. This is a different situation altogether, a potential
self-sustaining introduced population with published photo. Perhaps the
hypothetical list has not been defined as narrowly as I am defining it, and
would be perfectly willing to change my mind. We may want to adopt some
standard used by other committees for full inclusion to the list (10
years/generations, self sustaining?). Perhaps this has been done and I missed
it, my apologies if this is the case. We could also make a list of introduced
species in the same boat as the Ringed Turtle-Dove, assuming there are others
(Mynas in Buenos Aires??)."
Comments from Zimmer: "My
vote is a qualified one. If the only choice is to add it here or not add it
anywhere, then I would vote "YES". But, like Alvaro, I would prefer
to have a separate list of Introduced Species, which would seem a more
appropriate repository for Streptopelia. If this is an option, then I would
vote "NO" on adding it to the Hypothetical List, for reasons
elucidated by Alvaro."
Comments from Nores:
"YES. Pero como señalan Jaramillo y Zimmer
preferiría para estos casos poner una lista de especies introducidas y no
de hipotéticas. Las hipotéticas las dejaría para especies que han sido
citadas alguna vez para Sudamérica, pero que habrían llegado naturalmente y
no introducidas."
Comments from Pacheco:
"YES. Antes da confirmação de uma população
estabelecida, eu considero aceitável a permanência do taxon na lista de
"hipotéticos."