Mindoro imperial pigeon

The Mindoro imperial pigeon is the largest Philippine pigeon.[8] It measures from 42 cm to 50 cm in length.[3][7] Its wings are about 24 cm long and its tail measures from 15 cm to 17 cm.[3][7] Its forehead and throat are both pinkish grey. The head, neck and most underparts are bluish grey, darkest on the belly and under the tail. The hind neck goes from dark grey to black around the upper part of its back. The rest of the back and the inner wings go from a bronzy red colour to a green colour. The majority of the upper parts of the bird are emerald green. It has a black ring around and extending behind the eye. The tail is greenish black with an obvious grey band in the centre.[10] The feathers under the tail are grey with a cinnamon coloured tinge. They have a black bill and their legs are pinkish red.[6][7] In males, the iris is bright yellow and the eyelids are red. In females, the iris is brownish yellow and the eyelids are yellow orange.[3][4][7][8][9] No information on juvenile plumage was recorded.[4][7]

The Mindoro imperial pigeon is a bird from the genus Ducula, otherwise known as the group consisting of imperial pigeons.[11] The species Ducula mindorensis, formerly known as Carpophaga mindorensis and Zonophaps mindorensis, was first described by John Whitehead in 1896.[4] Together with Ducula radiata, it forms a superspecies.[4] It is also known to be closely related to Ducula poliocephala and Ducula forsteni, and these three species together may relate Ptilinopus fruit doves to other imperial pigeons.[4][10]

The Mindoro imperial pigeon can be seen singly, in pairs or in groups up to four individuals.[3][7][8][9] This species tends to roost together with Ducula poliocephala and Columba vitiensis in the canopy.[4][7][9] They tend to be inconspicuous, making it difficult to observe when roosting.[7][9]

The Mindoro imperial pigeon is distributed throughout Mindoro, where sufficient closed canopy forests remain. They used to be found mostly in mountain forests above 1000m.[3][4][5][12] However, in 1991, most of the observations were made in understory trees of the remaining low altitude forests of Mindoro (800-950m). IUCN assessed this bird as Endangered with an estimate of 600 - 1,700 mature individuals. This species is rare and uncommon, but known to be found more easily in Mount Ilong and Mount Halcon.[6][7][9] Its habitat is threatened by logging,[4][7][9] cultivation, deforestation and forest destruction.[6]

Conservation actions proposed include more surveys to better understand population, distribution and ecology. Also, protect the remaining forest on Mt Halcon and lobby for improved protected status.

• BirdLife Species Factsheet.