Wallace's fruit dove facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Wallace's fruit dove |
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Ptilinopus
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wallacii
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The Wallace's fruit dove (Ptilinopus wallacii) is a beautiful bird that belongs to the pigeon family, called Columbidae. It was named after a famous British scientist, Alfred Russel Wallace. This dove is quite large and has a long tail, usually about 24–28 centimeters (9.4–11.0 inches) long. Many people think it's "one of the most beautiful" fruit doves.
Its head has a dull red forehead and crown, with a white lower face and throat. The rest of its head, neck, chest, and upper back are a light bluish-grey. Its wings and lower back are green, and its belly is bright orange, separated from its chest by a white stripe. Both male and female doves look alike, but females have less red on their heads and their grey parts might look a bit greenish.
This bird lives only in Indonesia, in places like the Lesser Sunda Islands, the Moluccas, and the Aru Islands. Sometimes, it's also seen in southwestern New Guinea. It likes to live in forests near rivers and the coast. Wallace's fruit doves eat small fruits and berries. They build their nests from twigs in tree branches. The only nest ever seen was built in November. This dove is quite common in most areas where it lives. Because of this, it is listed as a species of least concern by the IUCN Red List, which means it's not currently in danger of disappearing.
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Discovering the Wallace's Fruit Dove
The Wallace's fruit dove was first described by an English bird expert named George Robert Gray in 1858. He studied birds that Alfred Russel Wallace had collected from the Aru Islands. The bird's scientific name, Ptilinopus wallacii, honors Alfred Wallace. The word Ptilinopus comes from ancient Greek words meaning "feather" and "foot".
The official common name for this bird is Wallace's fruit dove. Other names people use include Wallace's fruit pigeon or golden-fronted fruit dove. This bird does not have any different types or subspecies.
Family Tree of the Fruit Doves
Wallace's fruit dove is one of more than 50 different kinds of fruit doves in the Ptilinopus group. Scientists have studied the DNA of these birds to understand how they are related. A study in 2014 showed that Wallace's fruit dove is most closely related to the orange-fronted and ornate fruit doves. These three are then related to the pink-spotted fruit dove. All four of these are related to the grey-headed fruit dove.
This group of five species is also related to the orange-bellied, white-headed, and claret-breasted fruit doves. The Tanna fruit dove is the most distant relative in this specific group.
What the Wallace's Fruit Dove Looks Like
Wallace's fruit dove is a large bird with a long tail, measuring about 24–28 centimeters (9.4–11.0 inches) long. Many people describe it as "one of the most beautiful" fruit doves.
Its forehead and the top of its head are a dull crimson red, which sometimes reaches the back of its neck. Its lower face and throat are white. The rest of its head, neck, chest, and upper back are a light bluish-grey. A white band separates this grey area from its bright orange belly.
Its shoulders have a golden-bronze patch. The feathers on its back and inner wings are bluish-grey with yellow edges, making them look a bit like scales. The main flight feathers are a dark, shiny green, with narrow yellow edges on some of them. Its lower back and tail feathers are yellowish-green. The sides of its body and under its tail are a mix of pale yellow and green. The middle tail feathers are green with a whitish band at the end, while the outer ones are darker with a greyish band.
The bird's eyes are light red with a yellow or green inner ring. The skin around its eyes is bluish, and its feet are purplish to pinkish. Its beak is yellow-greenish with a lighter tip.
Female doves look similar to males, but their grey neck and chest might have a greenish tint, and their orange belly patch is not as bright. Young doves have green edges on their crowns, green feathers with yellow tips on their backs and wings, and a green wash on their chest and back.
The beautiful fruit dove looks similar, but it's smaller and has a shorter tail. It has a purple band instead of a white one, less red on its head, and orange-yellow feathers under its tail. The rose-crowned fruit dove is also similar but smaller, with a less widespread pink or pale purple crown.
Wallace's fruit dove is usually quiet. However, it has been heard making a loud, sad oooo... ooo ooo ooo sound. It also makes a short woo sound when it's excited.
Where Wallace's Fruit Doves Live
Wallace's fruit doves are found on the Babar Islands and Tanimbar Islands in the Moluccas. They also live on the Banda Islands, Kur, and several other smaller islands in the Lesser Sundas, as well as the Aru Islands. Sometimes, they are seen in southwestern New Guinea, but these birds are thought to have flown there from the Aru Islands by accident.
These doves live in lowland forests near rivers and the coast. This includes places like mangrove forests, forest edges, and savanna areas. They have also been seen on islands where most of the old forests have been cut down and replaced with farms. This suggests they can live in areas where the habitat has been changed by humans. On Kai Besar island, they have been found from sea level up to about 250 meters (820 feet) high.
How Wallace's Fruit Doves Live
Wallace's fruit doves are often seen alone or in pairs. However, they are social birds and can form groups of 5 to 26 birds. On Tanimbar, it's easy to spot them flying over roads or sitting in open trees. The average age of parents in the current population of these doves is about 3.2 years.
These birds eat small fruits and berries, picking them directly from branches. They build simple nests made of twigs in tree branches. One nest was observed being built in November.
Conservation Status
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists Wallace's fruit dove as a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List. This means that the bird has a large enough living area and its population is not decreasing significantly.
It is quite common on the Tanimbar and Aru Islands and moderately common on the Kai Islands. In 1971, it was not seen on the Banda Islands and Taam, where it used to be common. However, the fact that it survives on islands with many people shows that it can adapt to areas where its habitat has been changed.
