It is an extinct species of pigeon that was endemic to islands in the Okinawa archipelago south-west of the Japanese mainland.

Iejima, for example, was largely deforested for settlement and agriculture even before scientific exploration began, which explains the absence of records from this island.

In the Daitō group, it disappeared after 1936 due to these small islands being completely deforested by settlement and construction activity prior to World War II.

Still, the military activity during World War II and hunting by the Japanese garrison would probably have yielded sightings, if birds still had existed there.

More puzzling is the absence of any records from Tokashikijima in the Kerama Retto, which, despite being small, has still mostly intact forest cover even today; Zamamijima, where the species is known to have occurred is smaller still and situated farther away from the Okinawan mainland.