Silver-capped Fruit Dove - BirdForum Opus

Alternative names: Richard's Fruit-dove; Pink-spotted Fruit-dove

Identification

20-22 cm.

Silvery grey to pale bluish grey forehead, crown and malar area, bordered by an inconspicuous yellow-green line
Pale yellow throat
Silver grey rest of head, neck, breast and upper mantle, strongly washed yellow
Bifurcated central breast feathers with pale shining silvery green tips and yellow-green bases
Bright orange large belly patch
Yellowish green flanks
Orange undertail-coverts, often tinged and intermixed with pink
Moss green upperparts
Dark green tail with pale greenish yellow terminal bar
canopterus has a darker cap, a yellower throat, a smaller orange belly patch and a red base to bill (instead of dark green)

Sexes similar, juveniles are mainly green with grey tinge on forehead and yellow belly patch and undertail-coverts.

Endemic to eastern and southeastern Solomon Islands.
A little known restricted-range species.

Two subspecies recognized:

Found in moist lowland forests.

Has a rapid and direct flight with head held low.

A frugivorous species, feeds on berries and small fruits.
May gather in large numbers in fruiting trees.

Courtship recorded in March. The nest is a slight platform, placed about 6 m above the ground. Lays 1 egg.

Reports of birds on San Cristobal indicate some inter-islands movements.

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved July 2014)

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Silver-capped Fruit Dove. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 18 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Silver-capped_Fruit_Dove