Tanna Ground Dove
Extinction date unknown • Tanna Island
"Describing events of 17th August, the older Forster, Johann Reinhold, simply notes, 'I went ashore, we shot a new Pigeon and got a few plants and the fruit of the wild nutmeg.' Never again was the pigeon seen; even the specimen obtained has long since disappeared. Fortunately, a George Forster painting shows a dove not assignable to any known species. In its margin is written, 'Tanna, female, 17th August 1774.' There is little doubt, then, that this is a portrait of the mysterious dove of Tanna. When and why it died out cannot be said."
Fuller, Errol. Extinct Birds. New York, NY: Facts on File, 1988. 182-183.
Tanna Ground Dove, George Forster, 1774.
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