Gallicolumba
Gallicolumba is a mid-sized genus of ground-dwelling doves, most of which occur in rainforests on the Philippines. Local name 'punay' which is a general term for pigeons and doves. They are not closely related to the American ground doves genus. Rather, the present genus is closest to the thick-billed ground pigeon.
The Filipino species are known as bleeding-hearts due to their vivid-red patch on the breast, which looks startlingly like a bleeding wound in some species and has reminded naturalists of a dagger stab. The diet of doves of this genus consists of fruits and seed.
Systematics and extinctions
Gallicolumba might be ranked as a subfamily, but the available data suggests that they are better considered part of a quite basal radiation of Columbidae which consists of many small and often bizarre lineages.The genus contains seven species:
- Sulawesi ground dove, Gallicolumba tristigmata
- Cinnamon ground dove, Gallicolumba rufigula
- Luzon bleeding-heart, Gallicolumba luzonica
- Mindanao bleeding-heart, Gallicolumba crinigera
- Mindoro bleeding-heart, Gallicolumba platenae
- Negros bleeding-heart, Gallicolumba keayi
- Sulu bleeding-heart, Gallicolumba menagei - possibly extinct