Food
Native fruits and berries, seeds of bangalow and cabbage-tree palms and the berries of ink-weed.
Voice
A soft, high-low, 'whoo-wuk, whoo-wuk', the first half being loud, with emphasis on the resonant, musicval, 'oo'. The second half, 'wuk', being much softer and fading away.
White-headed Pigeon (Columba leucomela) [XC143509]
by Marc Anderson from Way Way, New South Wales, Australia (call)
White-headed Pigeon (Columba leucomela) [XC64141]
by Marc Anderson from Sherwood, Brisbane, Australia (call)
Nest
A scanty platform of sticks, usually in dense foliage in the horizontal branches of a jungle tree or in a tangle of vines, up to about 20 meters above the ground.
Eggs (Guide)
1; cream; ellipsoidal to oval; about 40 x 31 mm. Incubation: about 20 days; by both sexes.
Young
Semi-altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in 21 - 22 days.
Subspecies
Belongs to a superspecies of dark-coloured, iridescent Asian and Australasian forms, including Japanese Woodpigeon (Columba janthina) and Metallic Pigeon (Columba vitiensis), and the extinct Bonin Woodpigeon (Columba versicolor) and Ryukyu Woodpigeon (Columba jouyi). Yellow-legged Pigeon (Columba pallidiceps) may also be related. Most closely allied with Metallic Pigeon (Columba vitiensis). Long known as Columba norfolciensis, based only on a dubious description; however, an 18th century watercolour "discovered" in 1953 showed that this name actually applied to another bird that formerly occurred on Norfolk I, possibly Grey-capped Emerald Dove (Chalcophaps indica).
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