Orange Dove
Encyclopedia
The Orange Fruit Dove also known as Flame Dove, is a small, approximately 20 cm (8 in) long, short-tailed fruit-dove
in the family Columbidae
. One of the most colorful doves, the male has a golden olive head and elongated bright orange "hair-like" body feathers. The golden-olive remiges are typically covered by the long orange wing coverts when perched. The legs, bill
and orbital skin are bluish-green and the iris
is whitish. The female is a dark green bird with blackish tail and orange-yellow undertail coverts. The young resembles female.
The Orange Dove is distributed and endemic
to forests of Vanua Levu
, Taveuni
, Rabi
, Kioa
, Qamea
and Laucala
islands of Fiji
. The diet consists mainly of various small fruits, berries, caterpillar
s and insects. The female usually lays one white egg.
An Orange Dove features in novelist Umberto Eco
's "The Island of the Day Before
"
The Orange Fruit Dove is closely related to the allopatric Whistling Fruit Dove and Golden Fruit Dove.
A common species throughout its limited range, the Orange Fruit Dove is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List
of Threatened Species.
Fruit-dove
The fruit doves are a genus in the pigeon and dove family . These colourful, frugivorous doves are found in forests and woodlands in Southeast Asia and Oceania...
in the family Columbidae
Dove
Pigeons and doves constitute the bird family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerines. In general terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably...
. One of the most colorful doves, the male has a golden olive head and elongated bright orange "hair-like" body feathers. The golden-olive remiges are typically covered by the long orange wing coverts when perched. The legs, bill
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 orbital skin are bluish-green and the iris
Iris (anatomy)
The iris is a thin, circular structure in the eye, responsible for controlling the diameter and size of the pupils and thus the amount of light reaching the retina. "Eye color" is the color of the iris, which can be green, blue, or brown. In some cases it can be hazel , grey, violet, or even pink...
is whitish. The female is a dark green bird with blackish tail and orange-yellow undertail coverts. The young resembles female.
The Orange Dove is distributed and endemic
Endemism in birds
An endemic bird area is a region of the world that contains two or more restricted-range species, while a "secondary area" contains one or more restricted-range species. Both terms were devised by Birdlife International....
to forests of Vanua Levu
Vanua Levu
Vanua Levu , formerly known as Sandalwood Island, is the second largest island of Fiji. Located 64 kilometres to the north of the larger Viti Levu, the island has an area of 5,587.1 km² and a population of some 130,000.- Geography :...
, Taveuni
Taveuni
Taveuni is the third-largest island in Fiji, after Vanua Levu and Viti Levu, with a total land area of 435 square kilometers . The cigar-shaped island, a massive shield volcano which rises from the floor of the Pacific Ocean, is situated 6.5 kilometers to the east of Vanua Levu, across the...
, Rabi
Rabi Island
Rabi is a volcanic island in northern Fiji. It is an outlier to Taveuni , in the Vanua Levu Group. It covers an area of 66.3 square kilometers, reaching a maximum altitude of 463 meters and has a shoreline of 46.2 kilometers...
, Kioa
Kioa
Kioa is an island in Fiji, an outlier to Vanua Levu, one of Fiji's two main islands. Situated opposite Buca Bay, Kioa is a freehold by settlers from Tuvalu, who came between 1947 and 1983...
, Qamea
Qamea
Qamea is one of three islets lying to the east of Thurston Point on the island of Taveuni, Fiji, the others being Matagi and Laucala.-Geography:...
and Laucala
Laucala
Laucala is one of three small islands lying to the east of Thurston Point on the island of Taveuni in Fiji. The privately owned island is the site of the exclusive Laucala Resort....
islands of Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
. The diet consists mainly of various small fruits, berries, caterpillar
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
s and insects. The female usually lays one white egg.
An Orange Dove features in novelist Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco Knight Grand Cross is an Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose , an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory...
's "The Island of the Day Before
The Island of the Day Before
The Island of the Day Before is a 1994 novel by Umberto Eco.It is the story of a 17th century Italian nobleman who is the only survivor of a shipwreck during a fierce storm. He finds himself washed up on an abandoned ship in a harbour through which, he convinces himself, runs the International...
"
The Orange Fruit Dove is closely related to the allopatric Whistling Fruit Dove and Golden Fruit Dove.
A common species throughout its limited range, the Orange Fruit Dove is evaluated as Least Concern 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.
External links
- BirdLife Species Factsheet
- IUCN Red List
- Photos of a male Orange Dove. International Dove Society.