Pink-headed fruit dove

Pink-headed fruit dove
Taken at Louisville Zoo
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Columbiformes
Family:	Columbidae
Genus:	Ptilinopus
Species:	P. porphyreus
Binomial name
Ptilinopus porphyreus Temminck, 1822

The pink-headed fruit dove, (Ptilinopus porphyreus) also known as pink-necked fruit dove or Temminck's fruit pigeon, is a small colourful dove.

The pink-headed fruit dove is a resident breeding endemic bird in Indonesia where it occurs in the mountain forests of Sumatra, Java and Bali at altitudes of 1000–2200 m. It builds a flimsy nest in a tree and lays one or sometimes two white eggs which are incubated for 20 days to hatching, with a further 15–16 days to fledging. It is a shy and inconspicuous species, generally seen singly or in pairs, but flocks of up to 17 birds may form at favoured fruit trees.

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male

The male has a purple-pink head, neck and throat, bordered below with a white band outlined in greenish black. The upperparts are green and the underparts grey, with yellow undertail coverts. The iris is orange, the bill is greenish, and feet are pink. The female is duller than the male, with a weaker breast band, and the juvenile is an even drabber version of the female. The call is a soft hoo.

This dove feeds on figs, small fruit and berries in the upper canopy of the forest, where it is well-camouflaged amongst the green foliage.

The pink-headed fruit dove is restricted to less than 12,000 km² of forest in three sites on Sumatra, sixteen on Java and one on Bali, always on forested mountains at least 2000m high. Most sites are smaller than 200 km² and shrinking. However the species is very inconspicuous and it is not yet thought to be threatened.

The pink-headed fruit dove is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

References[]

• S. Van Balen and Vincent Nijman Biology and conservation of Pink-headed Fruit-dove Ptilinopus porphyreus

External links[]

• BirdLife Species Factsheet