The elegant imperial pigeon (''Ducula concinna''), also known as blue-tailed imperial-pigeon, is a large pigeon, with upperparts mainly dark blue-green in colour with an iridescent sheen. Head, neck and underparts are mostly pale grey, with red-brown undertail coverts.

Taxonomy and systematics

The elegant imperial pigeon was originally described as ''Carpophaga concinna'' by

Alfred Russel Wallace Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural se ...

in 1865 based on specimens from the

Watubela Islands Watubela is an archipelago in the Maluku Islands, east of Ceram and north of Kai Islands, southeast of the Gorong archipelago, and southwest of the Bomberai Peninsula of Papua, Indonesia. It includes the islands of Watubela itself, Kesui (also ...

Description

The elegant imperial pigeon is a large pigeon, measuring in length. The head, neck, and upper back are pale grey, with a pink tinge on the nape and back of the crown. The rest of the upperparts are shimmering dark green, while the top of the tail is purplish-blue, sometimes appearing black. The underparts are pale grey with a pink tinge, while the

undertail coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are sm ...

are reddish-brown. The undersides of the tail and wing are black. The bill is black or bluish-grey, with a ring of white feathers at its base, the iris is golden, and the feet are pinkish-red to

crimson Crimson is a rich, deep red color, inclining to purple. It originally meant the color of the kermes dye produced from a scale insect, ''Kermes vermilio'', but the name is now sometimes also used as a generic term for slightly bluish-red colo ...

. Both sexes are similar, but females have darker grey and pink colours. Juveniles are duller than adults.

Vocalisations

The elegant imperial pigeon's call is a loud, throaty, barking ''urrauw'', made at variable intervals. These are interspersed with low-pitched, loud, upslurred growls. These growls are often produced after another individual has given the bark.

Distribution and habitat

The elegant imperial pigeon inhabits small islands in Wallacea and off New Guinea. It has been recorded from the Talaud Islands, Sangihe, islands off southern

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

, the southern Maluku Islands, and the eastern

Lesser Sundas The Lesser Sunda Islands or nowadays known as Nusa Tenggara Islands ( id, Kepulauan Nusa Tenggara, formerly ) are an archipelago in Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up ...

from Romang to Tanimbar, east up to the Aru Islands. Vagrants have also been recorded from Buru and

Darwin Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

, Australia. The elegant imperial pigeon inhabits primary forest,

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

, forest edge, and trees in cultivated areas. It mostly inhabits lowlands, but is sometimes found up to elevations of .

Behaviour and ecology

The elegant imperial pigeon is thought to migrate between small islands to look for food. One vagrant observed in Australia may have reached there with migrating Torresian imperial pigeons.

Diet

The elegant imperial pigeon feeds on fruit, and has been recorded feeding on young coconut fruit, '' Ficus'' figs, ''

Canarium ''Canarium'' is a genus of about 100 species of tropical and subtropical trees, in the family Burseraceae. They grow naturally across tropical Africa, south and southeast Asia, Indochina, Malesia, Australia and western Pacific Islands; inclu ...

'' species, ''

Gnetum gnemon ''Gnetum gnemon'' is a species of ''Gnetum'' native to southeast Asia and the western Pacific Ocean islands, from Mizoram and Assam in India, south and east through Indonesia and Malaysia to the Philippines, Fiji, and Hawaii in the United States ...

'', fish poison trees (''Barringtonia asiatica''), Moluccan albizia (''Falcataria moluccana''), Bornean ironwood (''Eusideroxylon zwageri''), and Indonesian mahogany (''Toona sureni''). A vagrant in Australia was also observed feeding on banyan and palm trees. Foraging flocks can contain up to 40 birds.

Breeding

On Damar, nest-building was observed in August, when two nests were found at heights of in primary evergreen forest.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet
{{Taxonbar, from=Q655595 elegant imperial pigeon Birds of Wallacea elegant imperial pigeon