Three of the Rarest Living Pigeons

A city pigeon can be so familiar that it barely earns a second glance. Elsewhere in the same bird family, finding even one individual can be an event. Pigeons and doves both belong to Columbidae, and some of its living species survive in startlingly small, scattered populations.

There is no reliable worldwide “three rarest” league table: surveys happen in different years, some birds are hard to find, and a count of wild adults is not the same thing as a count of all birds. These three confirmed living species are among the family’s most precarious. Their stories also show what people are doing to help. ^[1–4]

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Finding a rare bird again is only the beginning of keeping it here.

1.Blue-eyed ground dove: a second chance in Brazil

Scientific name: Columbina cyanopis. ^[1]

For more than 70 years, no one had confirmed a blue-eyed ground dove in the wild. Then it was rediscovered in 2015 in Brazil’s Cerrado. Today, its only known wild population is near Botumirim, Minas Gerais. In June 2025, Chester Zoo reported fewer than 11 adults remaining in the wild. That figure does not include birds in conservation care. ^[1]

The species is Critically Endangered. Farming and timber plantations have reduced its habitat, while fires and climate pressures add danger. Brazilian conservationists and zoo partners are protecting the remaining habitat and carefully raising birds as an insurance population. Three chicks were hand-reared in 2025; Parque das Aves then held six blue-eyed ground doves in care. A successful hatch is encouraging, but the wild population still needs a secure home. ^[1]

2.Tooth-billed pigeon: Samoa’s Manumea

Scientific name: Didunculus strigirostris. ^{[2, 3]}

The Manumea is Samoa’s national bird, found nowhere else. Its strong, hooked bill can handle large native seeds, making this pigeon part of the forest’s natural seed-dispersal system. It has a name that sounds almost mythical—the “little dodo”—but it is very much a living bird. ^{[2, 3]}

Just how many remain is uncertain. Samoa Conservation Society cites an estimate of fewer than 250 wild birds, while its October 2025 field update suggested perhaps 200 or fewer. The team confirmed an adult in the Uafato Conservation Area during October–November 2025 surveys. That sighting matters: it confirms survival at a priority site, though it does not settle the population count. ^{[2, 4]}

Forest loss, hunting, and introduced predators threaten the species. The Samoa Conservation Society works with villages and the government on monitoring, forest protection, and locally led conservation. For a bird so elusive, knowing where it still lives is a vital first step. ^{[2, 4]}

3.Polynesian ground dove: the Tutururu of the atolls

Scientific name: Alopecoenas erythropterus. ^[5]

Known locally as the Tutururu, this ground-dwelling dove survives on a few small atolls in French Polynesia. It once occupied many more islands. The Polynesian Ornithological Society, SOP Manu, estimated at least 222 birds across Tenararo, Vahanga, and Tenania in 2025. Its Tenararo estimate came from a 2024 survey; the figures for the other two atolls came from 2025. This is a dated estimate for those islands, not an exact head count for every place the species might occur. ^{[5, 6]}

There is a hopeful detail in the numbers. SOP Manu recorded increases on Vahanga and Tenania after invasive rats and cats were removed in 2015, even as the Tenararo population declined. The group is exploring another protected island population, while addressing invasive yellow crazy ants at a proposed site. Keeping introduced predators from returning is central to the bird’s future. ^{[5, 6]}

What does “rarest” mean here?

Rarity can describe a tiny population, a very small range, or both. Estimates change when birds breed, die, move between islands, or are found by better surveys. That is why a 2025 wild-adult estimate for the blue-eyed ground dove should not be lined up as a precise ranking against a Manumea estimate for all wild birds or a Tutururu estimate from several atolls. All three are classified as Critically Endangered, and all three have confirmed evidence of survival. ^{[1, 2, 5]}

Rare pigeon questions, answered

A rare bird needs more than a sighting

Each bird tells a different conservation story: safeguard the Cerrado where a dove was rediscovered, work with Samoan communities to locate and protect a forest pigeon, and keep restored atolls safe for a ground dove. None of these efforts rests on one dramatic sighting. They depend on patient surveys, healthy habitat, and people who know the places these birds call home. ^{[1, 2, 5]}