Uncomon and in decline in Queensland due to loss of habitat.
Habitat
On cays and continental islands, usually vegetated with mangroves and tall dense closed forest. In coastal lowland rainforest and closed gallery forest, but occasionally in open forests and woodlands. Rather in inland gallery rainforests and norophyll vine forests. Usually seen in large flocks flying between offshore islands and feeding areas during the mornings.
Offshore islands and mainland of northern and north-eastern Australia, from the Kimberley, WA, the Top End from Point Pearce and Moyle River, north through Darwin to Melville Island, and in the east from the Gulf of Carpentaria, Cape York Peninsula south to about Carmilla, Qld. Also vagrant to Lord Howe and Christmas Islands.
Food
Fruits of tropical trees, palms, vines and bushes.
Voice
A loud, low-pitched, moaning, 'coo-woo', 'moo-oop' or 'up-oooo' with emphasis on the second syllable, repeated in a series of about 6 calls. A loud, bellowing, low-pitched, 'coo-hoo-hoo' or 'oom-oom-oom', uttered in display, the first part being short and soft and the rest loud and forecful. Also a resonant 'whoop' repeated every 2 - 3 minutes.
Pied Imperial Pigeon (Ducula bicolor) [XC575956]
by Okamoto Keita Sin from West Coast Park, Singapore, Singapore (call)
Pied Imperial Pigeon (Ducula bicolor) [XC193795]
by Mike Nelson from north of Weda Resort, Central Halmahera, North Maluku (approx location), Indonesia (song)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Usually September - January.
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Nest
Loosely woven platform composed of sticks, some with leaves, often lined with leaves or green shoots, on islands usually in mangoves, forests or scrub, occasionally on rocks and bare ground, and on the mainland mostly in mangroves, occasionaly in forests, isolated scrubs or open woodland. In small to large colonies.
Eggs (Guide)
1; smooth, glossy, white; oval ; about 45 x 31 mm. Incubation: about 27 days; by both sexes.
Young
Fledge in about 23 days.
Subspecies
Forms a distinctive superspecies with Torresian Imperial-Pigeon (Ducula spilorrhoa) and White Imperial-Pigeon (Ducula luctuosa). All three species have at times been considered conspecific. Subspecies melanura has sometimes been classified as a separate species, but alternatively it has been considered a mere colour morph, unworthy of taxonomic recognition. There is evidence that both nominate bicolor and subspecies melanura occur sympatrically on Kai, Ambon, Bacan, Halmahera and perhaps other islands, which has alternatively been interpreted as evidence that the forms are reproductively isolated full species, or that they are mere colour morphs.
Pied Imperial-Pigeon (Ducula bicolor), White Imperial-Pigeon (Ducula luctuosa) (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) and Yellowish Imperial-Pigeon (Ducula subflavescens) (Sibley and Monroe 1993) are retained as separate species. Ducula spilorrhoa and Ducula constans (Sibley and Monroe 1993) are lumped into Torresian Imperial-Pigeon (Ducula spilorrhoa), because Christidis and Boles (1994) do not recognize Kimberley Imperial-Pigeon (Ducula constans) (an Australian endemic) as a separate species, including it with spilorrhoa, subflavescens and luctuosa as a subspecies of bicolor.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
bicolor (Scopoli, 1786) - Coasts and small islands from Andaman and Nicobar Is, western Myanmar, Malay Peninsula, peninsular and coastal Thailand and Cambodia through Indonesia and Philippines to western Papuan Is (Salawati, Misool) and coastal Vogelkop (western New Guinea).
melanura (Gray, 1860) - Moluccas, on Bacan, Halmahera, Obi, Seram, Buru, Ambon, Kai Is, Moti and Muor. Also Komodo and Tanimbar Is (Lesser Sundas).
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
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet