Ornate fruit dove facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ornate fruit dove |
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| Genus: |
Ptilinopus
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| Species: |
ornatus
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The ornate fruit dove (Ptilinopus ornatus) is a beautiful and colorful bird that belongs to the Columbidae family. This family includes all the different kinds of pigeons and doves. You can find this special bird living in the forests of New Guinea.
These doves love to live in warm, wet places. Their natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and also subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, which are forests found on mountains.
What's in a Name?
The ornate fruit dove was first described by a scientist named Hermann Schlegel in 1871. He gave it the scientific name Ptilopus ornatus. Later, the spelling was corrected to Ptilinopus ornatus.
Let's break down its scientific name! The first part, Ptilinopus, comes from two Ancient Greek words: ptilon, meaning "feather," and pous, meaning "foot." So, it means "feather-foot." The second part, ornatus, comes from a Latin word that means "ornate" or "decorated." This makes sense because these doves are very colorful and look decorated!
The name "Ornate fruit dove" is the official common name for this bird. It was chosen by the International Ornithologists' Union, which is a group that names birds around the world.
Ornate Fruit Dove Family Tree
The ornate fruit dove is one of more than 50 types of fruit doves. All these fruit doves belong to the genus Ptilinopus. You can find these birds living across Southeast Asia and Oceania.
Scientists often study the DNA of animals to understand how they are related. A study in 2014 looked at the DNA of many fruit doves. It found that the ornate fruit dove is most closely related to the orange-fronted fruit dove. These two birds are like close cousins!
The study also showed that these two doves are related to Wallace's fruit dove. Then, these three are related to the pink-spotted fruit dove. And all four of them are related to the grey-headed fruit dove. It's like a big family tree!
Here is a simple family tree, called a cladogram, showing how the ornate fruit dove is related to some of its close relatives:
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Different Kinds of Ornate Fruit Doves
Even within the same species, animals can have slightly different versions. These are called subspecies. The International Ornithologists' Union recognizes two main subspecies of the ornate fruit dove. Sometimes, other bird experts might even consider them separate species!
- The "Original" Ornate Fruit Dove (P. o. ornatus): This is the first type discovered. It lives in the northwestern part of New Guinea, in an area called the Bird's Head Peninsula.
- Eastern Ornate Fruit Dove (P. o. gestroi): This subspecies was described by scientists Luigi D'Albertis and Tommaso Salvadori. It lives in the eastern parts of New Guinea, from the Fakfak Mountains all the way to Milne Bay.
The main difference between these two subspecies is the color of their "crown," which is the top of their head. The original P. o. ornatus has a wine-red crown. But the Eastern ornate fruit dove (P. o. gestroi) has a mustard-yellow crown!
