Pink-headed Imperial-Pigeon Ducula rosacea Scientific name definitions

39–44 cm; 360–395 g. Head , including uppermost part of throat, pale mauve-pink or salmon pink; remainder of throat and neck pale grey; upper breast pinkish grey shading to pale mauve-pink on lower breast and belly; upperparts dull bronzy green and bluish green tinged with silvery grey; primaries blackish tinged silvery grey; tail blackish green; undertail-coverts chestnut; whitish ring around eye and white band at base of bill, but less prominent than in D. pistrinaria; iris dark brown, with narrow red orbital ring; bill blue-grey with red or purple cere; legs red or reddish purple. Sexes alike. Juvenile similar but duller, with narrow buff fringes to feathers of wings and underparts.

Islands in Java Sea (Seribu Is, Karimunjawa, Bawean, Maselembu Besar, Arends), Bali Sea (Kangean) and Flores Sea (Salayar, Tanahjampea, Kalao, Kalaotoa, Tukangbesi), locally N to Moluccas (Loloda Is, NW Halmahera, Bacan, Tayandu Is, Kai Is), and through most of Lesser Sundas (Satonda, Flores, Besar, Pantar, Alor, Roti, Semau, Timor, Wetar, Kisar, Romang, Leti, Moa, Luang, Sermata, Damar, Babar, Tanimbar).

Inhabits a variety of forest types, ranging from primary and tall secondary along coast to lowland and hill forest; also woodland scrub and cultivation with trees; mainly in canopy. Typically found on small islands, but sometimes also recorded on coasts of larger islands, e.g. Sulawesi, and even inland; mainly in lowlands, but up to 120 m on Bacan, to c. 200 m on Alor, and to 1100 m on Timor.

No information. Given the species’ preference for small islands, it is very likely sometimes to undertake inter-island movements in search of fruit.

Frugivorous , feeding on figs (Ficus); also on flower buds of Ceiba pentandra (1 Taufiqurrahman, I. and Susanto, H. (2011). New information on the diet of the Pink-headed Imperial Pigeon Ducula rosacea. BirdingASIA. 16: 111. Close ); no further information on diet. Occurs in flocks of up to 20 birds, often associated with D. concinna.

Commonest call is an accelerating series of 5–7 cooing notes that gradually get shorter, “wooh..wooh..woh.wuh.wu”. Other vocalizations include a low-pitched hoot “whoooo” on an almost even pitch and a similar bisyllabic hoot.

Nests have been found on Wetar in Oct, on Semau I, Lesser Sundas, in May, and at Karimunjawa National Park, Central Java, in Jun; they were respectively at 11 m above ground in Schleichera oleosa, 18 m up in a Garuga tree, and c. 15 m up in a Cassuarina equisetifolia tree (2 Taufiqurrahman, I., Susanto, H. and Wibowo, W.K.K. (2016). Breeding records of the Pink-headed Imperial Pigeon Ducula rosacea from Karimunjawa National Park, Central Java, Indonesia. BirdingASIA. 25: 41–43. Close ); in addition, a chick was collected at Semau I in Oct (3 Johnstone, R.E., Hidayat, O., Darnell, J.C. and Trainor, C.R. (2014). The avifauna of Semau Island, Lesser Sundas, Indonesia: ecology, taxonomy and conservation. West. Austr. Natur.. 29(3): 162–221. Close ). No further information.

Not globally threatened. Currently considered Near Threatened. Little information available, but species reported to be fairly common to common locally on some islands such as Tanimbar. Despite hunting pressure, species is reported to be easily approached and not particularly wary on Timor; apparently adaptable to a certain degree of habitat degradation. A very large population is thought to occur on Wetar, where the species reported in 2009 as abundant in forest at all sites and occasionally seen in flocks of about 20 birds; extensive forests remain on this island, still with a very low human population (4 Trainor, C. R., Imanuddin, F. Aldy, P. Verbelen, and J. S. Walker (2009). The birds of Wetar, Banda Sea: one of Indonesia’s forgotten islands. BirdingASIA 12:78–93. Close ).