- Ptilinopus chalcurus
Identification
20-23 cm. A slender Ptilinopus Dove.
- Purple lores, forehead and crown (without yellow posterior border)
- Greenish grey rest of head, neck and breast
- Yellow ventral area
- Green upperparts
- Red eye
- Yellow bill and red legs
Sexes similar, juveniles without purple crown and brown eye and legs.
Similar species
Atoll Fruit Dove has a yellow posterior border on the purple crown and a greyer rest of head, neck and breast.
Distribution
Endemic to the island of Makatea in the Tuamotu Archipelago in the South Pacific (French Polynesia).
Common in the remaining forest of the tiny island, may increase in number as forested areas recover after the phosphate mining has stopped.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
Belongs to a species-group centred on Grey-green Fruit Dove and has been considered a subspecies of the former or of Atoll Fruit Dove.
Habitat
Found in all wooded areas of Makatea, also in villages.
Behaviour
Diet
Not much known. Seen to eat insects, seeds and fruits.
Breeding
Birds in breeding condition have been found in August. No other information.
Movements
No information.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved April 2015)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Makatea Fruit Dove. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 3 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Makatea_Fruit_Dove
