Everything about The Pied Imperial-pigeon totally explained
The
Pied Imperial-pigeon, (
Ducula bicolor) also known as the
Nutmeg Pigeon,
Torresian Imperial-pigeon or
Torres Strait Pigeon is a
pigeon which is a widespread resident breeding bird on mainly small islands adjoining the
Indian Ocean from the
Nicobars in an arc to
New Guinea. It is also found in northern
Australia in coastal areas from the
Kimberlies (in
Western Australia) to the
Great Barrier Reef, in the east (off
Queensland). Birds residing in the Kimberlies are non-migratory, while the birds east of Queensland are migratory. Migratory birds in the east arrive from
Indonesia and
Papua New Guinea in August and depart February to April. They generally can be found in
rainforests,
eucalyptus woodland, coastal
scrubs,
streams,
rivers,
mangroves and
islands.
It builds an untidy stick
nest in a tree, usually a
coconut palm and lays a single white egg, which hatches within 23 to 25 days. The squab fledges after another three weeks. In Australia they breed between August and January in
mangroves,
vines,
palm fronds on off-shore islands, such as the
Brook Islands. In north east Queensland, they migrate daily as flocks from the islands to the mainland
rainforests to eat
fruit. They return to islands upon dusk.
The Pied Imperial-pigeon is a large plump pigeon, 37-44
centimetres (14-17.6
inches) length, with a 45 cm (18 in) wingspan. It is entirely white or
pale cream, apart from black flight feathers (
remiges) and tail (
rectrices)
feathers. The head can be brown, soiled by eating fruit. Its
flight is fast and direct, with the regular beats and an occasional sharp flick of the
wings which are characteristic of pigeons in general. Males that display fly steeply up, pause, tip forward and then glide downwards.
This is an arboreal dove, feeding almost exclusively on
fruit. It can swallow fruits with very large seeds, the latter being
regurgitated or
excreted whole, depending on size, after the pulp has been removed.
Calls made by the birds are a deep "mrrrooooo", "roo-ca-hoo" and "up-ooooo".
The birds were once present in large colonies in
Cairns, Australia but were subject to mass slaughter in the 19th Century because they were thought as pests. Populations rapidly dropped. The population is now slowly improving because of their protected status in Australia, where there are now an estimated 30,000.
E. J. Banfield wrote in 1908 that in
Dunk Island "fully 100,000 come and go evening and morning", with flying colonies as wide as two
miles. It was described by
Harold Frith in 1982, who stated these processions as "one of the great ornithological experiences of the tropics."
Gallery
Image:pied.imperial.pigeon.arp.jpg|Bristol Zoo, England
Image:Buberel Unknown bird 2.jpg
Further Information
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