Fuchsia cuckoo pigeon
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Fox- red cuckoo pigeon ( Macropygia mackinlayi ) |
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| Macropygia mackinlayi | ||||||||||
| Ramsay , 1878 |
The fox-red cuckoo pigeon ( Macropygia mackinlayi ) is a species of pigeon birds that belongs to the genus of cuckoo pigeons . It occurs only on a few small islands in Southeast Asia. On the islands where other species of cuckoo pigeon are absent, it is a relatively common species.
The population of the fox-red cuckoo pigeon is given as 
(= least concern - not endangered).
Appearance
The fox-red cuckoo pigeon reaches a body length of up to 30 centimeters. Their weight is 66 to 104 grams. It is about the size of a laughing dove. As is characteristic of cuckoo pigeons, it is very long-tailed. Both sexes have both fox-red and gray individuals. The gray color morph is fundamentally rarer and is even absent on some islands.
In the fox-red morph, the male has a brown head. The crown and neck are darker and tinged with gray. The upper back and coat are speckled brown and fine reddish brown. The wings are brown, the feathers of the wing covers have narrow red-brown edges and are also red-brown spotted. The trunk is a warmer brown than the coat. Throat and chest are reddish brown. The feathers on the chest are forked at the top, revealing the dark base of the feathers below. This leads to the characteristic mottling on the chest. The female resembles the male, but is slightly grayer than the male on the vertex and neck. The underside of the body is a little paler.
Possible confusion
In the distribution area of the fox-red cuckoo-pigeon there are several other cuckoo-pigeons with which it can be confused. The fox-red cuckoo- pigeon occurs like the pink-breasted cuckoo-pigeon on some islands of Wallacea. It is smaller than the pink-breasted cuckoo-pigeon and the breast plumage is finely spotted, not finely banded across as in the pink-breasted cuckoo-pigeon. The dwarf cuckoo pigeon occurs on two islands that are also populated by the fox-red cuckoo pigeon . The fox-red cuckoo pigeon is smaller than this species and overall duller in color. The lighter head and top of the body contrast strikingly with the red-brown top of the body.
distribution and habitat
The fox-red cuckoo pigeon occurs on the smaller islands of the Bismarck Archipelago , the Admiralty Islands , the St. Matthias Group, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu . On the mainland of New Guinea it is only a random visitor, but it occurs on the island of Karkar , which belongs to New Guinea . The species is very adaptable in terms of its habitat requirements. It occurs in gardens, at forest edges, in secondary forests as well as in primary forests.
Way of life
The fox-red cuckoo pigeon occurs singly, in pairs and in small groups. It is often found near trees and shrubs that are currently bearing small fruits and seeds. It also balances on very small branches to get to the fruit. She comes to the ground mainly to pick up small stones. It is basically a resident bird, but it is able to colonize small islands very quickly. Individuals are therefore repeatedly sighted in areas that do not belong to the range of this species.
literature
- Bruce M. Beehler , Thane K. Pratt: Birds of New Guinea; Distribution, Taxonomy, and Systematics . Princeton University Press, Princeton 2016, ISBN 978-0-691-16424-3 .
- 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 .
- Alois Münst and Josef Wolters: Tauben - The species of wild pigeons , 2nd expanded and revised edition, Verlag Karin Wolters, Bottrop 1999, ISBN 3-9801504-9-6 .
- 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
- Macropygia mackinlayi inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.1. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved October 31, 2013.