Superb Fruit-Dove (Ptilinopus superbus)

Other Names (World)
Eastern Superb Fruit-dove, Superb Fruit-Dove, Purple-capped Fruit-Dove(!), Purple-crowned Fruit-Dove, Purple-crowned Pigeon, Purple-crowned Fruit-Pigeon, Superb Fruit-pigeon, Superb Fruit Dove

Family
Columbidae (Pigeons, Doves)

Size
22 - 24 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Temminck, 1809)

Derivation
Ptil-in'-o-pus - Gk, ptilon, feather; Gk, pus (pous), podos, foot: su-perb'-us - L., handsome

Abundance (Guide)
MC

Common but difficult to observe.

Habitat
Fruiting trees of coastal rain-forests, monsoon forests and mangroves.

Range (Guide)

Australia (B), Indonesia (B), Papua New Guinea (B), Philippines (B), Solomon Islands (B).

Northern Queensland from Cape York south to about Rockhampton. Vagrant to New South Wales, but quite common, Victoria and Tasmania.

Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).

Status LC
Vulnerable.

For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Food
Fruit and occasionally seeds.

Voice
A low 'oom' exploding into 'woops' like that of a barking dog.

(25Kb) © ? (1)

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (48)...)

Superb Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus superbus) [XC70452]
by Marc Anderson from Daintree National Park (near Kimberley), Queensland, Papua New Guinea (song)

Superb Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus superbus) [XC37606]
by David Gibbs from Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia (song)

Breeding Season (Guide)
October - February.

Nest
A frail platform of twigs, about 7 cm in diameter, usually in a horizontal fork of a sapling, about 3 - 4 meters above the ground.

Eggs (Guide)
1; smooth, glossy, white; oval; about 30 x 21 mm. Incubation: about 14 days; by both sexes.

Young
Semi-altricial. Fledge in about 7 days.

Subspecies
Affinities uncertain and considered by some to be most closely related to Many-coloured Fruit-dove (Ptilinopus perousii), and allied to the large Grey-green Fruit-dove (Ptilinopus purpuratus) species-group. Alternative treatment places present species with the species-group that includes Pink-spotted Fruit-dove (Ptilinopus perlatus), Western Ornate Fruit-dove (Ptilinopus ornatus), Tanna Fruit-dove (Ptilinopus tannensis), Orange-fronted Fruit-dove (Ptilinopus aurantiifrons) and Wallace's Fruit-dove (Ptilinopus wallacii).

The following 2 subspecies are recognised:

temminckii (Des Murs and Pr�vost, 1849) - Sulawesi and Sulu Is. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Western Superb Fruit-dove (Ptilinopus temminckii).
superbus (Temminck, 1809) - Moluccas, western Papuan Is and Aru Is through New Guinea to Admiralty Is and Bismarck Archipelago, D'Entrecasteaux Is and Louisiade Archipelago, and on to Solomon Is (east to Malaita) and south to eastern Australia (Torres Strait Is and Cape York to northern New South Wales).

Similar Species
Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove (Ptilinopus regina) which has yellow-orange underparts and a yellow tipped tail.

Compare Images

References
See References.

The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9

Files:

JPG files for Superb Fruit-Dove (Ptilinopus superbus) - 10 files

MP3 files for Superb Fruit-Dove (Ptilinopus superbus) - 1 files

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