Beautiful Fruit-dove
Encyclopedia
The Beautiful Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus pulchellus), also known as the Rose-fronted Pigeon or Crimson-capped Fruit Dove (leading to easy confusion with the Crimson-crowned Fruit Dove), is a small, approximately 19 cm (7½ in) long, mainly green fruit dove. It has a red crown, whitish throat, a greenish-yellow bill
and purplish-red feet. It has a blue-grey breast and yellowish orange belly, with a reddish purple patch in between. Both sexes are similar.
The Beautiful Fruit Dove is distributed in rainforests of New Guinea
and the islands of Batanta
, Waigeo
, Salawati
and Misool
in West Papua, Indonesia
. The female usually lays a single white egg.
Its diet consists mainly of various fruits from trees, palms and vine
s. In the Port Moresby
area, birds were found to eat a mixed diet in May. Large Tristiropsis canarioides fruit were taken when available, but the species gets displaced from fruiting trees by larger pigeons such as the Collared Imperial-pigeon
(Ducula mullerii). Small Endiandra
sp. fruit were very often eaten, but made up only a small quantity of food volume. Other food were Gymnacranthera paniculata and small quantities of Polyalthia
sp., Livistona
palm fruit, and occasionally pepper (Piper
) berries. Despite their small size, they are able to swallow fruits of 5 cm³ volume, which would translate into a diameter of about 2 cm in spherical fruit. (Frith et al. 1976)
Widespread and common throughout its large range, the Beautiful Fruit Dove is evaluated as Least Concern
on the IUCN Red List
of Threatened Species.
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
and purplish-red feet. It has a blue-grey breast and yellowish orange belly, with a reddish purple patch in between. Both sexes are similar.
The Beautiful Fruit Dove is distributed in rainforests of New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
and the islands of Batanta
Batanta
Batanta is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in Papua province, Indonesia. Its area is 453 km² and its highest point is 1184 m.- Fauna :The following mammals are found on the island:...
, Waigeo
Waigeo
Waigeo is an island in West Papua province of eastern Indonesia. The island is also known as Amberi, or Waigiu. It is the largest of the four main islands in the Raja Ampat Islands archipelago, between Halmahera and about 65 km to the northwest coast of New Guinea...
, Salawati
Salawati
Salawati is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in West Papua , Indonesia. Its area is 1623 km². The other main islands in the archipelago are Misool, Batanta and Waigeo....
and Misool
Misool
Misool is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in West Papua , Indonesia. Its area is 2034 km². The highest point is 535 m and the main town is Waigama, on the island's northern coast, and Lilinta....
in West Papua, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. The female usually lays a single white egg.
Its diet consists mainly of various fruits from trees, palms and vine
Vine
A vine in the narrowest sense is the grapevine , but more generally it can refer to any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent, that is to say climbing, stems or runners...
s. In the Port Moresby
Port Moresby
Port Moresby , or Pot Mosbi in Tok Pisin, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea . It is located on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, on the southeastern coast of the island of New Guinea, which made it a prime objective for conquest by the Imperial Japanese forces during 1942–43...
area, birds were found to eat a mixed diet in May. Large Tristiropsis canarioides fruit were taken when available, but the species gets displaced from fruiting trees by larger pigeons such as the Collared Imperial-pigeon
Collared Imperial-pigeon
The Collared Imperial Pigeon, , is a large pigeon with grey upperparts and largely grey-pink underparts, distinguished by a striking and diagnostic complete black collar against an otherwise white throat.-Distribution:Northern and southern New Guinea and the Aru Islands...
(Ducula mullerii). Small Endiandra
Endiandra
Endiandra is a genus of approximately 100 species of plants, mainly trees in the laurel family Lauraceae. They have a broad distribution across South East Asia, Australia and into the western Pacific Ocean....
sp. fruit were very often eaten, but made up only a small quantity of food volume. Other food were Gymnacranthera paniculata and small quantities of Polyalthia
Polyalthia
Polyalthia is a genus of plant in family Annonaceae. It contains the following species :* Polyalthia angustissima Ridl.* Polyalthia chrysotricha Ridley* Polyalthia elmeri Merr....
sp., Livistona
Livistona
Livistona is a genus of 36 species of palms , native to southern and southeastern Asia, Australasia, and the Horn of Africa...
palm fruit, and occasionally pepper (Piper
Piper (genus)
Piper, the pepper plants or pepper vines , are an economically and ecologically important genus in the family Piperaceae...
) berries. Despite their small size, they are able to swallow fruits of 5 cm³ volume, which would translate into a diameter of about 2 cm in spherical fruit. (Frith et al. 1976)
Widespread and common throughout its large range, the Beautiful Fruit Dove is evaluated as Least Concern
Least Concern
Least Concern is an IUCN category assigned to extant taxon or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, Near Threatened, or Conservation Dependent...
on the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
of Threatened Species.