Which extinct pigeon species would you bring back if you could?

[FBBird]

Passenger Pigeons needed very large breeding colonies, without which individual birds would not survive. If flocks of this size still existed, WE WOULD KNOW ABOUT THEM!!!!!!!!!! Most of those sightings came from heavily birded states (Wisconsin, Missouri, ect.). I doubt a Passenger Pigeon could survive there undetected.

Besides, those photos are clearly juvenile Mourning Doves in the early mourning (or late evening) light.

I agree those birds aren't Passenger Pigeons, but am not convinced they would not adapt to breeding in smaller groups or single pairs.

 

[Luke da Zoo nerd]

I voted passenger, but the Liverpool pigeon is cool too. I didn't think it would compete with the passenger though.

 

[tetrapod]

Refused to vote due to the lack of Natunaornis gigoura - Fiji's version of a dodo, the Viti Levu giant pigeon.

 

[drill]

Why bring back Passenger when you already have Mourning.

 

[Sheather]

Why bring back Passenger when you already have Mourning.

dramatic behavioral differences

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Why bring back Passenger when you already have Mourning.

dramatic behavioral differences

And, as noted upthread, not actually all that closely related to Zenaida.

 

[Batto]

Moreover, it was a more attractive species

but also because they don't look very pigeon-like.

Isn't that a tad bit superficial? "I'm sorry, but we cannot resurrect your species." "But, why???" "You're not attractive enough and don't look like pigeons. Next!"

As for the aforementioned Carolina parakeet, it always makes me sad to think that if the German ornithologist Hans Freiherr von Berlepsch had taken better care, the species might have had a chance for a comeback thanks to ex situ conservation.
Once in zoos but now extinct

 

[animal_expert01]

So no one knows where Liverpool pigeons are from? Is this a scenario where a specimen was collected and then sat in a museum for years before someone recognised it was something new and unique?

 

[TeaLovingDave]

So no one knows where Liverpool pigeons are from? Is this a scenario where a specimen was collected and then sat in a museum for years before someone recognised it was something new and unique?

Not quite; it was recognised as distinct by the ornithologist John Latham in the 18th century based on two specimens and a drawing which he had been shown (of which one specimen and the drawing have been lost), but he wasn't given locality information for either specimen. We can make educated guesses that the species lived in the South Pacific based on the origin of other specimens in the two personal collections which held them, and some suggestion has been made that the species came from Tahiti due to reports of a somewhat-similar bird in the accounts of Tahitians interviewed in the 1920s.

Unfortunately, after being recognised as distinct for many years, in the 19th century the zoological consensus was that the species was probably just a deformed Nicobar Pigeon - largely due to the fact Rothschild held a lot of influence and didn't accept the species himself - and although this has now been conclusively debunked, valuable time (and one specimen) was lost so we likely will never know for sure.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

Hope I don't come across as a spoil sport or to sound like a total bore but to be frank I wouldn't want to bring back any of them from extinction in that hypothetical situation.

I'd rather focus and mobilize resources / research and attention on extant but critically endangered columbidae species and particularly those from Brazil like the purple winged ground dove and the blue eyed ground dove.

I feel that living species have to be the priority and I think that the passenger pigeon and other extinct columbids do serve as very poignant (and useful) illustrative symbols and reminders of the tragedy of extinction.

 

[CheeseChameleon1945]

particularly those from Brazil like the purple winged ground dove and the blue eyed ground dove.

Those are very threatened species, I agree with you there.

 

[Pootle]

this fellow sends a shiver down my spine. The Pink Pigeon (Nesoenas mayeri). Off topic but this little devil had me in the mid-late 1990's killing hours and hours of time on an online (bear in mid to late mind late 90's) model to look at population levels effect given all sorts of eco, bio & natural disasters, it would not work and everyone invented the findings and our Professor even gave us all a decent score to keep shhhh!