were passed down by local elders after its extinction. One indigenous person implied that the gizzard stones of the pigeon may have had value locally. After the bird's extinction, the indigenous people have occasionally confused the Choiseul pigeon with the arboreal crested cuckoo-dove in modern folklore, and several claims of the pigeon's continued existence turned out to be based on the cuckoo-dove. After its discovery, several Western bird collections highly desired its skins; the Whitney South Seas Expedition spent three months at high expense on Choiseul with the primary objective being the acquisition of the Choiseul pigeon. In 2012 the Choiseul pigeon was commemorated on a stamp from Mozambique along with several other extinct birds. The Choiseul pigeon is depicted on the flag of the Choiseul Province. Extinction The indigenous population believed that the pigeon became extinct due to predation by feral cats and, to a lesser extent, feral dogs. As Choiseul has no indigenous carnivorous mammals, the ground-dwelling pigeon was particularly susceptible to the introduced cats. If the pigeon existed on islands that feral cats had never reached, it is believed that the clearance of its forest habitat would have led to its local extinction. As there have been no substantiated reports since 1904 despite multiple searches, the IUCN has declared it extinct. As several ornithologists had visited Choiseul and the nearby islands prior to Meek without noting any sign of the bird's existence, it is likely that the Choiseul pigeon was already close to extinction in 1904. References Cited texts External links Pictures of a specimen Choiseul pigeon † Extinct birds of Oceania Bird extinctions since 1500 Choiseul pigeon Taxa named by Walter Rothschild