This rare green pigeon is vanishing from Southeast Asia. Scientists say fewer than 500 may be left

The Timor green pigeon was once easier to find in the forests of Timor. Today, researchers fear there may be fewer than 500 left. A new study says the bird is already functionally extinct in Indonesia and has become increasingly restricted to one district in Timor-Leste.

Researchers from Charles Darwin University and BirdLife International are now calling for the species to be moved to Critically Endangered status and for urgent action to protect what remains.

Why is the Timor green pigeon disappearing?

The study, published in Oryx by Cambridge University Press, is based on more than 1,400 days of field surveys carried out between 2002 and 2025. Researchers looked across the Timor green pigeon’s known range, including Timor-Leste, Jaco Island, West Timor, Rote Island and Semau Island. They also examined older records from ornithologists and birdwatchers dating back to 1969.

There were 96 records in total. Seventy-four came from Timor-Leste, with most of those sightings recorded in Lautem district.

The researchers estimate that only 100 to 500 birds remain. They suspect the real number is closer to the lower end of that range.

Hunting and habitat loss are putting pressure on the species. The bird is also found in an area known as Wallacea, where Asian and Australian wildlife meet. The region has many species found nowhere else.

Despite being listed as Endangered since 2000, the study says little has been done to protect the Timor green pigeon.

Dr Colin Trainor, the study's lead author from Charles Darwin University, has watched that decline over more than two decades.

“I first visited Timor-Leste in 2002. On my second day working for BirdLife I got the bus to the village of Tutuala in the far eastern district of Lautem, then walked eight kilometres down the coast where I spotted the Timor green pigeon for the first time. It wasn’t that difficult to see back then in good forest. But it was still exciting because it’s only found on Timor and some of the neighbouring islands.”

Trainor continued to return to Timor-Leste after finishing his fieldwork in 2006. “Since 2004 – when I had two records on Rote Island off West Timor – remarkably I have had no records outside Lautem district in Timor-Leste, with the conclusion that they have become increasingly restricted to this well-forested district.”

A bird with little time left

Most of the recorded sightings, 82%, were inside protected areas, especially Nino Konis Santana National Park. But the researchers say that protection has not stopped the decline. Jafet Potenzo Lopes, an author of the study from Conservation International, was born in Lautem District and has worked there as a conservationist for years. He said the change has been clear.

“Ten years ago you could hike to see the Timor green pigeon, but now it only lives in the most remote areas.”

Hunting is particularly difficult to address because it is part of local culture.

“It is very difficult to convince hunters to change their behaviour, because it’s part of the culture. But I think we need to ask people how they'd feel if this bird disappears. Hunters may like the meat, but if nothing changes soon there will be none.”

Alex Berryman, Senior Red List Officer at BirdLife International and a co-author of the study, said the species may now be among the birds most likely to disappear in Wallacea.

“The Timor green pigeon may now be one of the bird species most likely to go extinct anywhere in Wallacea – a biodiversity hotspot renowned for its concentration of threatened species. Unfortunately, our conclusion is that the species is already functionally extinct in Indonesia, leaving conservation efforts in Timor-Leste crucial for its survival. Timor-Leste remains frustratingly overlooked in conservation – and that urgently needs to change.” Trainor said there is still a chance to save the bird, but time is running short.

“The biggest threat to the remaining population comes from probably quite a small number of hunters, so there is an opportunity to change their minds, either through reason, financial support or a combination of both.” He added: “We need urgent action and we need it now.”

Source: Oryx – The International Journal of Conservation, Cambridge University Press.