Raiatea fruit dove

The Raiatea fruit dove (Ptilinopus chrysogaster) is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to the Society Islands in French Polynesia. Although first named to science in 1853, this fruit dove was evidently discovered 30 years earlier, by René Primevère Lesson (1794–1849), while serving as naturalist aboard La Coquille.[2] It was formerly considered a subspecies of the grey-green fruit dove but was split as a distinct species by the IOC in 2021.[3] Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

Raiatea fruit-dove
Illustration of a Raiatea fruit dove by Joseph Wolf
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Class: Aves
Order: Columbiformes
Family: Columbidae
Genus: Ptilinopus
Species:
P. chrysogaster
Binomial name
Ptilinopus chrysogaster
Gray, GR, 1854
Synonyms
  • Ptilinopus purpuratus chrysogaster

Distribution and population

The Raiatea fruit dove is endemic to the French Polynesian islands Huahine, Raiatea, Tahaa, Bora Bora, and, at least formerly, Maupiti. There is an estimated population of p 1000 to 2500 mature individual birds. Better population estimates after 2001 are unknown.[1]

Threats

There is an ongoing population decline due to habitat destruction; the introduction of non-native plants, predation by invasive species such as the swamp harrier (Circus approximans) and feral cats, Polynesian rats (Rattus exulans), black rats (R. rattus) have a negative impact on the quality of the species habitat.[1]

References
  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Ptilinopus purpuratus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T60759996A95162340. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T60759996A95162340.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. Lee, Michael; Cibois, Alice (20 September 2019). "The earliest record of Raiatea or Leeward Society Islands Fruit Dove Ptilinopus chrysogaster". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 139 (3): 260-265. doi:10.25226/bboc.v139i3.2019.a7. S2CID 202727938.
  3. "Species Updates – IOC World Bird List". Retrieved 2021-06-18.
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