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Purple-tailed Imperial Pigeon - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Joseph Morlan
Sawatuk, Sorong Regency, West Papua, Indonesia, 21 November 2023.
Ducula rufigaster

Identification

  • Pale pinkish head
  • Orange underparts
  • Metallic emerald green wings and back
  • Purple rump
  • Gray tail band

Similar Species

Rufescent Imperial Pigeon is found at higher elevations and lacks an obvious pale gray tail band.

Distribution

Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

Taxonomy

This is a polytypic species[1].

Subspecies

Two subspecies are known, of which the nominate seems the most widespread while uropygialis is limited to northern New Guinea.

Habitat

Subtropical or tropical moist lowland and foothill rainforest interior.

Behaviour

Usually solitary and difficult to see. Does not usually fly above the canopy.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2023. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2023. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Baptista, L. F., P. W. Trail, H. M. Horblit, and E. F. J. Garcia (2020). Purple-tailed Imperial-Pigeon (Ducula rufigaster), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.ptipig1.01

Recommended Citation

External Links

GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1

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