Black-collar fruit pigeon
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Black-collar fruit pigeons |
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| Ducula mullerii | ||||||||||
| ( Temminck , 1835) |
The black-collar fruit pigeon ( Ducula mullerii ) is a large species of pigeon birds that is one of the fruit pigeons . It is endemic to New Guinea and Aru. There are two subspecies.
The stock situation of the black-collar fruit pigeon was classified in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2016 as “ Least Concern (LC) ” = “not endangered”.
Appearance
The black-collar fruit pigeon reaches a body length of up to 43 centimeters. It is thus somewhat larger than a wood pigeon , but has a somewhat more compact build. The tail accounts for 12.5 to 13.6 centimeters. There is no noticeable gender dimorphism .
The wax skin is not feathered, so that the front head rises steeply. The reins and the top of the head are mauve and bordered by a narrow gray band. The throat and the area of the face below the eyes are silver gray. The name-giving wide black collar runs around the neck. The upper coat is bright wine red. The back and the wings, on the other hand, are slate gray. The upper tail-coverts are also slate-gray, but are of a slightly darker tone than the back and wings. The tail is dark with a wide light gray band running down the center of the tail. The front neck is whitish and then merges with the mauve tint of the chest. The chest and belly are bright mauve, the middle of the chest is a little more intense and the tone is washed out gray towards the belly. The flanks and legs are gray-purple. The under tail-coverts are dark red-brown. The beak is slate gray. The iris is dark brown and the eyes are surrounded by a narrow yellowish eye ring. The feet and legs are bright red.
Possible confusion
In the distribution area of the black-collar fruit pigeon, the naked pigeon pigeon belonging to the same genus occurs. It is the only other fruit pigeon found in the New Guinea lowlands that has a gray transverse band on the control feathers. The naked-eye fruit pigeon is, however, much stronger. The easiest way to tell them apart is that they have no light throat and no black collar.
Distribution area and habitat
The distribution area of the black-collar fruit pigeon is New Guinea and the Aru Islands , a group of islands about 150 km south of New Guinea in the Arafura Sea . The archipelago consists of around 95 flat islands with a total area of 8,563 km², the main islands of which are only separated by narrow waterways. The black-collar fruit pigeon also occasionally comes to Boigu as an odd visitor .
The black-collar fruit pigeon has very specific requirements for its habitat. It occurs in New Guinea only in the alluvial land along rivers.
Way of life
The black-collar fruit pigeon lives solitary or in pairs. Occasionally, however, small groups of five to ten individuals can also be observed. They sometimes join groups of naked-eye fruit pigeons and two-color fruit pigeons . Overall, however, the black-collar fruit pigeon is a very secretive bird species that can usually only be seen when it is crossing rivers or lakes in rapid flight.
The black-collar fruit pigeon is a tree-dwelling species that looks for its food in the upper treetop area and is often associated with other fruit-eating pigeons. Similar to other island-dwelling species of fruit pigeon such as the gray fruit pigeon and the gray island fruit pigeon , it is a nomadic pigeon. Wandering pigeons of this kind are seen again and again in Torres Street . It breeds both in the dry and in the rainy season. Gibbs, Barnes and Cox therefore suspect that, given suitable living conditions, it can brood all year round. The nest is a simple platform on a horizontal, leafy branch 1.5 to six meters above the ground. The nest is usually built near the water. It is often located just above the surface of the water. The clutch consists of a single egg.
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 mullerii in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2012. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved on November 5 2016th
- Call of the black-collar fruit dove on Xeno-Canto