Common BronzewingScientific name: Phaps chalcoptera

Meaning of name: Phaps is a Greek word for pigeon. Chalcoptera is from the Greek words chalcos, meaning bronze, and pteron, meaning wing.

Aboriginal name: Ooda (oo’ta).

Distribution: Widespread across Australia.

Description: This bird is up to 36cm long. The male and female are easily distinguished by the colour of their forehead. In the male, the area between the eyes is buff, rather than the grey of the female (pictured left).

Notes: The furthest distance recorded by the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme for this species of bird to travel is 359km. The oldest bird recorded was still alive when its band was read in March 2009, 6 years 0.2 months after being banded (information as at 30 August 2016).

References: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Various contributors.
What Bird is That? Neville W Cayley. 1978

Aboriginal names of bird species in south-west Western Australia, with suggestions for their adoption into common usage. Ian Abbott. 2009. Conservation Science Western Australia Journal. Volume 7 No 2  http://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/about-us/science-and-research/76-publications-and-resources/103-conservation-science-wa-journal

Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/science/abbbs/abbbs-search.html