The black cuckoo-dove or black dove (''Turacoena modesta''), also known as the slaty cuckoo dove, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of bird in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Columbidae Columbidae is a bird Family (biology), family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the Order (biology), order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Lesser Sunda Islands The Lesser Sunda Islands (, , ), now known as Nusa Tenggara Islands (, or "Southeast Islands"), are an archipelago in the Indonesian archipelago. Most of the Lesser Sunda Islands are located within the Wallacea region, except for the Bali pro ...

, being found on

Timor Timor (, , ) is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...

Wetar Wetar is a tropical island which belongs to the Indonesian province of Maluku and is the largest island of the Maluku Barat Daya Islands (literally ''Southwest Islands'') Regency of the Maluku Islands. It lies east of the Lesser Sunda Islands, ...

Rote Rote can refer to: People * Jason Butler Rote, American TV writer *Kyle Rote (1928–2002), American football player and father of: * Kyle Rote, Jr. (born 1950), American soccer player * Ryan Rote (born 1982), baseball pitcher * Tobin Rote (1928� ...

, and

Atauro Atauro (, , ), also known as Kambing Island (), is an island and municipality (, or ) of Timor-Leste. Atauro is a small oceanic island situated north of Dili, on the extinct Wetar segment of the volcanic Inner Banda Arc, between the Indones ...

. It inhabits

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

and secondary

monsoon forest Seasonal tropical forest, also known as moist deciduous, semi-evergreen seasonal, tropical mixed or monsoon forest, typically contains a range of tree species: only some of which drop some or all of their leaves during the dry season. This tropic ...

, eucalyptus forest, and woodlands. It is long on average and is mainly dark bluish-gray, lighter on the head and underparts and darker on the wings and tail. It has yellow

orbital Orbital may refer to: Sciences Chemistry and physics * Atomic orbital * Molecular orbital * Hybrid orbital Astronomy and space flight * Orbit ** Earth orbit Medicine and physiology * Orbit (anatomy), also known as the ''orbital bone'' * Orbitof ...

skin. The black cuckoo-dove feeds on fruit. It is listed as being

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...

by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

(IUCN) in the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

. It is threatened by

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

and

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The black cuckoo-dove was first described as ''Columba modesta'' by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Temminck in 1835 based on a specimen from

. It was then moved to the genus ''

Macropygia ''Macropygia'' is a genus of bird in the pigeon and dove family Columbidae. The genus is one of three genera known as cuckoo-doves. They are long tailed, range between 27 and 45 cm in length and have brown plumage. The genus now ranges from ...

'' by the English zoologist

George Robert Gray George Robert Gray (8 July 1808 – 6 May 1872) was an English zoology, zoologist and author, and head of the Ornithology, ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum, London f ...

in 1844, before finally being moved to '' Turacoena'' in 1856. The name of the genus, ''Turacoena'', is after the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

''Turacus'' (now treated as a synonym of ''

Tauraco ''Tauraco'' is a genus of turacos. It contains the "typical" or green turacos; though their plumage is not always green all over, the presence of significant amounts of turacoverdin-colored plumage generally sets ''Tauraco'' species apart from ...

'') and the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

word ''oinas'', meaning pigeon. The specific name ''modesta'' is from the Latin word ''modestus'', meaning plain or modest. Black cuckoo-dove is the official

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

designated by the

International Ornithologists' Union The International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) is an international organization for the promotion of ornithology Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", ...

. Other common names for the species include black dove, Timor cuckoo-dove, Timor black cuckoo-dove, Timor black pigeon, and slate-colored cuckoo-dove. The black cuckoo-dove is one of three species in the genus ''Turacoena'' and is most closely related to the white-faced cuckoo dove. It does not have any

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

Description

The black cuckoo-dove is a medium-sized cuckoo-dove with a length of . Both sexes are similar in appearance. It is mainly dark bluish-gray, with the color being lighter on the head and

underparts Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position provi ...

and almost black on the wings and tail. The feathers on the top of the head,

nape The nape is the back of the neck. In technical anatomical/medical terminology, the nape is also called the nucha (from the Medieval Latin rendering of the Arabic , ). The corresponding adjective is ''nuchal'', as in the term ''nuchal rigidity'' ...

, neck, breast and upper back have

iridescent Iridescence (also known as goniochromism) is the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear gradually to change colour as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Iridescence is caused by wave interference of light in microstruc ...

green or purple fringes. The

skin is yellow, while the

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (given name), a feminine given name, and a list of peopl ...

has a yellow inner ring and a red outer ring. The legs and beak are black. Juveniles are duller, with brownish-grey plumage, and have light

fawn A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family (biology), family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, a ...

-white fringes to feathers.

Vocalizations

The

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

call is a long ''crrruah...crrruah..rrah.rah.ra.ra.ra-ra-ra-r-r-r-r'' which starts with purrs that are similar to those of the

European turtle dove The European turtle dove (''Streptopelia turtur'') is a threatened or vulnerable member of the bird family Columbidae, the doves and pigeons. It breeds over a wide area of the south western Palearctic including north Africa but migrates to north ...

and then becomes a series of stuttering notes before fading. It lasts for 6–8 seconds and consists of 20–25 notes. It is repeated around every half minute.

Distribution and habitat

The black cuckoo-dove is endemic to the

and is found on Timor,

, and

. It inhabits

and secondary

, eucalyptus forest, and

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

at elevations of up to and is moderately tolerant of

. It is thought to

migrate Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

seasonally depending on food availability.

Behaviour and ecology

The black cuckoo-dove is mainly found singly or in pairs in the

subcanopy In biology, the canopy is the aboveground portion of a plant cropping or crop, formed by the collection of individual plant crowns. In forest ecology, the canopy is the upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns and includ ...

. It is a quiet species and flies swiftly to nearby perches when flushed. It feeds on fruit and forages singly or in pairs in bushes and small trees. Flocks also congregate at fruiting trees. It is parasitized by the quill mite '' Meitingsunes turacoenas'', which is present on its

flight feathers Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tai ...

Status

The species is listed as being

by the

(IUCN) in the

due to population declines and restricted distribution. Its population is estimated to be 1,500–7,000 mature adults and 2,500–9,999 total individuals. Threats to the species include severe

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

caused by grazing, burning, agriculture, and logging. It is also threatened by intensive hunting in Timor.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1271590 black cuckoo-dove Birds of Timor Birds of Wetar Near threatened animals Near threatened biota of Asia black cuckoo-dove Taxonomy articles created by Polbot