Spotted fruit pigeon
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Spotted fruit pigeon ( Ducula carola ) |
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| ( Bonaparte , 1854) |
The spotted fruit pigeon ( Ducula carola ) is a species of pigeon birds with a contrasting color and comparatively small and short-tailed for a fruit pigeon. It occurs in three subspecies exclusively on the Philippine islands.
The population of the spotted fruit pigeon is indicated as endangered ( vulnerable ).
Appearance
The spotted fruit pigeon reaches a body length of about 36 centimeters. It is about the size of a city pigeon . The tail accounts for 10.8 to 12 centimeters. The beak has a length of 1.8 to 2.2 centimeters. There is an unusually conspicuous gender dimorphism for a large fruit pigeon .
Appearance of the males
The front of the head, the reins, the crown and the neck are ash gray and merge into a darker gray on the coat. The feathers of the small wing covers are gray with black spots and stripes. The feathers of the middle and large elytra are similar in color, but the spots are larger and have a metallic bronze-green sheen. The arm wings are soot-gray, the outer flags have a green or black-green shimmer. The wings are black-brown with a dark green shimmer on the outer flags and the tips of the feathers. The back is gray-brown with a bronze-green and blue sheen. The upper tail-coverts are blackish with a noticeable green sheen, the tail feathers are black with a blue-green sheen.
The chin and throat are creamy white and merge into pale gray ear covers and a pale gray front neck. The chest is darker gray and has a white crescent in the middle. The belly is dark maroon, the transition from chest to belly is almost black. The flanks are gray, the thighs maroon. The rump and the under tail-coverts are dark maroon, the under-tail coverts are black.
The iris is white with a pink spot or a pink outer ring. The featherless skin around the eye is blue-gray, the eyelids are whitish. The wax skin and the base of the beak are purple to pink-red, the tip of the beak is white. The feet are purple to pinkish red.
Appearance of females and fledglings
The plumage corresponds to that of the male very largely. However, the females are more brown on the upper side of the body and have a more intense bronze-green sheen. The pattern of spots on the wing covers is less pronounced. The chest is brown-purple and has no white crescent. The belly is pale rust-brown, the rump is yellowish isabel-colored.
Young birds initially resemble the female, but do not show any pattern of spots on the wing covers. The underside of the body is more matt, the belly is mottled gray and yellowish isabel.
Possible confusion
In the distribution area of the spotted fruit pigeon, there are two species of pigeon, with which the spotted fruit pigeon can be confused.
The white-cheeked pigeon belonging to the field pigeons is significantly darker than the great fruit pigeon. The wings have no spots. The orbital ring is red.
The bronze fruit pigeon , which, like the spotted fruit pigeon, is one of the large fruit pigeons, is matt pink on the head, neck, chest and belly. Only the coverts under the tail are maroon. On the upper side of the body, the bronze fruit dove is colored uniformly green with a metallic sheen. The elytra do not show any spots.
distribution and habitat
The spotted fruit pigeon is an island end with several Philippine islands. It comes on Luzon , Mindanao , Mindoro , Sibuyan , Negros and Siquijor . It is now very rare on many of the islands and is probably already extinct on Negros. Deforestation and intensive hunting are contributing to the decline in the population .
The spotted fruit pigeon is a forest dweller that also occurs on the edges of forests. The altitude distribution ranges from the lowlands to altitudes of 2000 meters. However, it is more common in the lowlands.
Way of life
At the time when the spotted fruit pigeons were even more numerous, they were typically found in flocks of ten or more individuals. Both seasonal migrations and switching between islands have been demonstrated for this species. On Negros, where it used to be, it was found at high altitudes from April to May and in the lowlands from September to November.
The spotted fruit pigeon eats a wide range of fruits, some of which it picks directly from the branches. The breeding season falls from February to July. The nest is typically a loose platform of small branches.
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 links
- Ducula carola in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2012. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2012. Accessed November 23, 2016th
- Call of the Spotted Fruit Dove on Xeno-Canto