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The little cuckoo-dove (''Macropygia ruficeps'') is a
Oriental Bird Images: ''Little Cuckoo Dove''
Selected images {{Taxonbar, from=Q675948 little cuckoo-dove Birds of Southeast Asia little cuckoo-dove Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
The little cuckoo-dove (''Macropygia ruficeps'') 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
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
in the family 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 a reddish brown pigeon, and is found in Brunei, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is listed as a species of least concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...
on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Endangered Species.
Description
The little cuckoo-dove is a reddish brown pigeon, measuring in length, and weighing . It has cinnamon buffplumage
Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...
. It has greyish white irides. The beak
The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for pecking, grasping, and holding (in probing for food, eating, manipulating and ...
is brown, and has a black tip. The feet are coral red in colour. The tail is long, and it differentiates the little cuckoo-dove from other sympatric
In biology, two closely related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter each other. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct spe ...
(species existing in the same geographic area and thus frequently encountering one another) pigeons. Little cuckoo-doves travel in loose flocks.
Distribution and habitat
The little cuckoo-dove is found in evergreen hill forests and forest peripheries, in the north of its range. Southwards, it is found in drier forests and in adjacent areas of second-growth forests. It is also found in cultivated areas. It is commonly found in submontane habitats at elevations of above sea level. It has also been recorded at heights of at least from sea level on Mount Kinabulu, and sometimes at sea level.Status and conservation
Since 1998, the little cuckoo-dove has been rated as a species ofleast concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...
on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species
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 spe ...
. This is because it has a large range—more than 20,000 km2 (7,700 mi2)—and because it has a stable population trend. Also, although its population numbers have not been determined, they are thought to be above 10,000, which is above the criterion to warrant a vulnerable rating. It is described to be common in the southern part of its range, and uncommon in the northern part of its range. It is thought to have no major threats.
References
Further reading
* * * *External links
* *Oriental Bird Images: ''Little Cuckoo Dove''
Selected images {{Taxonbar, from=Q675948 little cuckoo-dove Birds of Southeast Asia little cuckoo-dove Taxonomy articles created by Polbot