Alectroenas nitidissima

The Mauritius Blue dove (Alectroenas nitidissima), also known as the Falklands Blue dove, is an extinct pigeon in Mauritius.

Although the Mauritius Blue Dove is known to indigenous people, there is no scientific record of it, and much of it is falsified. There are only three known specimens, which are housed in the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, the Royal Museum in Edinburgh and the Mauritius Museum of Natural History in Port Louis. In addition, there are some related drawings, including two of newly shot and two of raised Mauritius blue doves. The first skeletons of the Mauritius blue dove were found in Marsangis in 2006, presumably killed by a flood or similar disaster. Since previous palaeozoological studies have been limited to coastal areas, it is believed that the Mauritius blue dove lived only in dense forests.

A more detailed description of the Mauritius blue dove, published in 1755, states that it had become rare since the 1730s, due to forest loss and hunting. In 1801, some Mauritius blue doves were still found, but only in woodland near rivers. The last specimens were collected in Savannah in 1826, and it was thought that they could still be found in Mar Ovacua. It is estimated that they became extinct in the 1830s. In addition to the loss of forest land and excessive hunting, the invasion of long-tailed macaques is also the cause of their extinction.

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