Elegant Imperial-Pigeon Ducula concinna Scientific name definitions

43 cm. Head , neck and upper mantle pale silvery grey with delicate pink tinge on hindcrown and nape and narrow white ring of feathers at base of bill; rest of upperparts mostly iridescent dark green  , mixed with dark blue and with bronzy sheen in some lights; upperside of remiges and tail dark iridescent purplish blue (often appearing black); underparts mostly pale silvery grey, as head and neck but with faint pink tinge; undertail-coverts red-brown; undertail black; underwing entirely black, contrasting with pale grey underbody in flight; bill black or blue-grey; iris golden-yellow; legs and feet pink-red to crimson red. Sexes similar, but female said to be somewhat darker on grey and pink parts. Juvenile apparently similar to adult but duller.

Primary and secondary forest , as well as forest edge and cultivation with trees; mainly in lowlands, but up to at least 850 m. Apparently found only on small islands throughout its range; only 1 record from Buru, presumably a vagrant.

Poorly known. Commonly occurs in flocks and thought to move between small islands in search of food. One vagrant individual reached Australia (Darwin, Northern Territory), perhaps having moved S with migrating D. spilorrhoa; single record from S Buru is also thought to refer to a vagrant.

Frugivorous; diet known to include young coconut fruits. On Damar Island seen feeding in nutmeg and local people stated that the species consumes fruits of Canarium sp., Gnetum gnemon, Barringtonia asiatica, Paraserianthes falcataria, Eusideroxylon zwageri, Toona sureni and Ficus spp. (2 Trainor, C. R. (2007). Birds of Damar Island, Banda Sea, Indonesia. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 127(4):300–321. Close ). A vagrant in Darwin (NC Australia) fed in banyan fig and palm trees. Typically feeeds in flocks of as many as 40 birds.

Gives a loud, guttural almost barking ‘urrauw’ at irregular intervals, interspersed with deep, loud, short-or drawn-out upslurred growls; frequently one bird produces the bark and another responds with the growl (3 Coates, B. J., and K. D. Bishop (1997). A Guide to the Birds of Wallacea: Sulawesi, The Moluccas and Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia. Dove Publications, Alderley, Queensland, Australia. Close ).

Nest building seen on Damar in August; two nests found then were 25 m and 30 m above ground in primary evergreen forest (2 Trainor, C. R. (2007). Birds of Damar Island, Banda Sea, Indonesia. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 127(4):300–321. Close ).

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). The global population is not known but locally common,e.g. on Tanhajampea and Kalaotoa (Flores Sea), and in Kai and Tanimbar Is. In 1999 the population on Karekelong Island, then the last remaining island in the Talaud group with extensive primary forest, was estimated at between 14,500–27,700 birds, with densities much higher in primary forest than in secondary habitat (4 Riley, J. (2003). Population sizes and the conservation status of endemic and restricted-range bird species on Karakelang, Talaud Islands, Indonesia. Bird Conservation International. 13(1): 59–74. Close ). Selection of primary forest rather than secondary growth also reported on Babar, where common in 2009; Romany, where abundant in 2010, and Sermata (5 Trainor, C. R., and P. Verbelen (2013). New distributional records from forgotten Banda Sea islands: the birds of Babar, Romang, Sermata, Leti and Kisar, Maluku, Indonesia. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 133(4):272–315. Close ). Reported as still regular on Sangihe at 200–800 m; but no recent records from Salebabu in the Talaud archipelago, where villagers report decline in numbers due to habitat loss and hunting. In 2001 abundant in forest throughout Damar, common on Terbang Selatan but unrecorded on Terbang Utara (2 Trainor, C. R. (2007). Birds of Damar Island, Banda Sea, Indonesia. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 127(4):300–321. Close ).