The black imperial pigeon (''Ducula melanochroa''), also known as the Bismarck imperial pigeon, is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family

Columbidae Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km. History The first inhabitants o ...

where it lives in forests.

Taxonomy and systematics

The black imperial pigeon was originally described as ''Carpophaga melanochroa'' by Philip Sclater in 1878 based on specimens from the

Duke of York Islands The Duke of York Islands (formerly german: link=no, Neulauenburg) are a group of islands located in East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea. They are found in StGeorge's Channel between New Britain and New Ireland islands and form part o ...

. The generic name ''Ducula'' is from "dukul", the

Nepali Nepali or Nepalese may refer to : Concerning Nepal * Anything of, from, or related to Nepal * Nepali people, citizens of Nepal * Nepali language, an Indo-Aryan language found in Nepal, the current official national language and a language spoken ...

name for imperial pigeons. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''melanochroa'' is from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

word ''melanokhrōs'', meaning black-skinned. Black imperial pigeon is the official

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

designated by the International Ornithologists' Union. Other common names for the species include black imperial-pigeon, Bismarck imperial pigeon, Bismarck imperial-pigeon, and silver-laced imperial pigeon. The black imperial pigeon is often placed in a species group with the Pinon's,

Louisiade The Louisiade Archipelago is a string of ten larger volcanic islands frequently fringed by coral reefs, and 90 smaller coral islands in Papua New Guinea. It is located 200 km southeast of New Guinea, stretching over more than and spread ...

, and collared imperial pigeons. It has no subspecies.

Description

The black imperial pigeon is a large, heavy imperial pigeon with a long tail, with a length of and weighing . Both sexes are similar. It is mainly slaty-black, with silver fringes on the wing

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are sm ...

(flight feathers) and back that make a scaled pattern. The undertail coverts are dark chestnut while the underside of the tail is grey. The iris is red, the bill is blue-grey with a black tip, and the feet are dark reddish. Juveniles are similar to adults, but have paler chestnut on the undertail coverts. Nicobar pigeons in flight may be confused with black imperial pigeons, but have longer wings, a shorter tail, and a longer, thinner-necked appearance.

Vocalisations

The black imperial pigeon makes a series of three low-pitched booming notes, along with grunts and a

hornbill Hornbills (Bucerotidae) are a family (biology), family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly coloured and sometimes has a Casque (an ...

-like ''arh''. A very deep ''mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm'' has also been reported from New Ireland.

Distribution and habitat

The black imperial pigeon is endemic to the Bismarck Archipelago, where it is found on the islands of

Umboi Umboi (also named Rooke or Siassi) is a volcanic island between the mainland of Papua New Guinea and the island of New Britain. It is separated from New Britain by the Dampier Strait and Huon Peninsula, and New Guinea by the Vitiaz Strait. It ha ...

New Britain New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the Dam ...

, Watom,

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was Du ...

, and New Ireland. It mainly inhabits forests in hills and mountains, but is also seasonally found in lowland forest on New Britain. It is found up to elevations of on New Britain, from on Umboi, and from on New Ireland.

Behaviour and ecology

The black imperial pigeon is

frugivorous A frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance and ...

and has been observed feeding on fruit with diameters between and wild figs. Foraging occurs in the canopy and is most often done alone or in small flocks, although flocks with as many as 40 birds may be seen on ''

Ficus ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending in ...

'' trees. The only known black imperial pigeon nest was found in January and had a diameter of . It was made entirely out of twigs and was placed at a height of around between two branches on a mossy tree. It contained a single white egg.

Status

The black imperial pigeon is listed as being of

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

(IUCN) on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

due to a sufficiently large range and lack of sufficient population decline. However, its population is thought to be declining due to

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q372319

black imperial pigeon The black imperial pigeon (''Ducula melanochroa''), also known as the Bismarck imperial pigeon, is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to the Bismarck Archipelago where it lives in forests. Taxonomy and systematics The ...

Birds of the Bismarck Archipelago

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot