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Species Description
The Rodrigues Solitaire (Pezophaps solitaria) was a close relative of the Dodo. Though flightless, it was a member of the Order Columbiformes. The Rodrigues solitaire was endemic to the island of Rodrigues, one of the Mascarene Islands and a dependency of Mauritius. This bird was first recorded by Francois Legaut. The birds became scarce due to hunting and predation by the introduced cats, rats, and pigs of the area. They were easy to catch due to their flightless nature. The only account of their habits is that of Legaut. A pair of these birds would not allow another Rodrigues Solitaire to get near the nest. The males would never drive away the females. If a male was confronted with a female stranger, the male called its partner to chase the stranger away. They were highly territorial. These birds choose a clean place to build nest. They gather palm leaves and heap them up on the ground. The female and male take turns covering. The feathers of the males were brown-grey in color, whereas the females were pale buff, grey or brown. Their neck is straight and long. They had a band of black, velvet-like feathers on the base of the beak. The male was much larger than the female. This bird usually measured at a length of 90 cm. This bird never flies; their wings are too little to support the weight of their bodies. The wings only serve to flutter when they call one another. The bone of their wings grows greater towards the extremity. This forms a round mass under the feathers. This observed mass and its beak are the chief defenses of this bird.