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Pied Imperial Pigeon | Ducula bicolor
Bonte muskaatduif | Dúcula bicolor
The Pied Imperial Pigeon is a large white pigeon with black flight feathers from Southeast Asia, where it lives on small islands and along coasts. In the Caribbean it is an alien: a small, free-flying population has become established on New Providence in the Bahamas since the late 2000s. How the birds got there is unknown; the species is offered in the cage-bird trade.
Voice
A deep, resonant coo, woo-oo-woooo, the last note long and slowly fading. Heard mainly from a high perch.
Recording: Kim Chuah Lim — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
38–41 cm, bulky, with a small head and a full breast. The plumage is largely white, often with a creamy-yellow tinge. Primaries and secondaries are black and contrast sharply with the white wing coverts, both perched and in flight. The tail is also largely black. The bill is bluish-grey with a dark tip, the legs bluish-grey. The sexes are alike. Flight is powerful and direct on regular beats, and it likes to perch high in palms and large trees.
Confusion species
No native pigeon in the region is white with black flight feathers. White or pied Rock Doves Columba livia are smaller, shorter-tailed and rarely show the clean black-and-white wing pattern; they feed on the ground in towns and harbours, whereas the imperial pigeon eats fruit in the treetops. An escaped white domestic pigeon or Barbary Dove can cause confusion at a distance.
Habitat
On New Providence in residential areas, gardens and parks with fruiting palms and trees, and in coastal woodland. In its native range in coastal forest, mangrove, plantations and scrub, especially on small islands, with daily flights between roost and feeding areas. It eats fruit, including that of palms, wild figs and nutmeg. Little has been published about breeding on New Providence.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation types of the Caribbean.
Range and movements
In the region only on New Providence in the Bahamas, mainly in the north-east of the island around Nassau. The first record dates from 2007; from 2011 the species was seen regularly, and by 2017 flocks of more than ten birds were being reported. No established populations are known from other islands. Native to Southeast Asia, from Myanmar and Thailand through Indonesia to the Philippines and western New Guinea.
- Resident
- Passage (Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
In north-eastern New Providence, in gardens and along streets with fruiting palms. The white birds with black wing edges stand out from afar in flight and high in a tree; the deep call often gives away their position.
Conservation status
Not threatened globally, though it has declined in parts of its native range through hunting and trapping for the trade. In the Caribbean an alien with a small population; nothing is known about its trend or about effects on native wildlife.
Scientific name
Ducula bicolor | (Scopoli, 1786)
Scopoli described the species in 1786 as Columba bicolor; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Ducula was introduced in 1836 by Hodgson. Ducula is probably a Latinisation of dukul, a Hindi/Nepali name for imperial pigeons; others derive it from Latin dux, ducis 'leader'. bicolor is Latin for 'two-coloured', after the white plumage with black flight feathers and tail. The specimen the first description was based on came from New Guinea.