Dark fruit pigeon
| Dark fruit pigeon | ||||||||||
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Dark fruit pigeon ( Ducula whartoni ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Ducula whartoni | ||||||||||
| ( Sharpe , 1837) |
The dark fruit dove ( Ducula whartoni ), also known as the Christmas fruit dove , is a species of pigeon birds. It occurs only on a single island in the Indian Ocean. The species was directly threatened with extinction in the 1940s, but has now recovered to 1,000 individuals.
Appearance
The dark fruit pigeon reaches a body length of 45 centimeters. It is larger than a wood pigeon and is characterized above all by its roughly tattered fletching. The almost complete fletching of the feet is also characteristic of the dark fruit pigeon. There is no gender dimorphism.
The head and neck are dark gray. The chest and belly are reddish gray. The under tail feathers are dark maroon. The top of the body, the wing covers and the tail are soot-brown with a dark green tinge. The iris is bright yellow. The feet are red.
distribution and habitat
The dark fruit pigeon is only found on Christmas Island . The Christmas Island ( Territory of Christmas Island ) is a 135 km² large, politically part of Australia island in the Indian Ocean . It is 350 km south of Java and 2,616 km northwest of Perth . It consists of a volcanic core ( trachyte and basalt ) as well as limestone , which has arisen from the skeletons of chamberlings ( Foraminifera ) and hard corals ( Scleractinia ). It rises from a depth of 2,000 m and rises about 350 m above sea level. A large part of Christmas Island is covered with tropical rainforest . Two thirds of the island is now under nature protection; a national park was established. While the fauna of Christmas Island used to suffer primarily from phosphate degradation, the yellow spinner ant ( Anoplolepis gracilipes ) introduced from Africa now represents the greatest threat to the autochthonous fauna. This is already widespread on a quarter of the island.
The dark fruit pigeon uses both primary and secondary forest as habitat. It also occurs on the edge of human settlement. However, it primarily uses the treetops of large trees in the rainforest on the central plateau of Christmas Island.
behavior
The dark fruit pigeon lives mostly singly or in pairs. Small, loose troops form when individual trees bear particularly abundant fruit. It is an inconspicuous species that does not enjoy calling, and is not very shy despite being hunted. It mainly eats fruit that it picks directly from the branches. The breeding season is very long and lasts from August to April. The peak of the breeding season falls in the months of November to March. Possibly two annual broods are characteristic of the dark fruit dove. The nest is a loosely assembled platform high in the trees. The clutch consists of only one egg. Clutches with two eggs are also very rare. The young bird is looked after by both parents and fledged after 24 to 27 days. He will then be provided with food by the parent birds for at least another 17 days.
supporting documents
Individual evidence
literature
- David Gibbs, Eustace Barnes and John Cox: Pigeons and Doves - A Guide to the Pigeons and Doves of the World . Pica Press, Sussex 2001, ISBN 90-74345-26-3 .
- Gerhard Rösler: The wild pigeons of the earth - free living, keeping and breeding . M. & H. Schaper Verlag, Alfeld-Hannover 1996, ISBN 3-7944-0184-0 .
Web link
- Ducula whartoni inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2013. Retrieved January 4, 2014.