The collared imperial pigeon (''Ducula mullerii'') is a large pigeon native to New Guinea and adjacent islands.

Description

The species has an average body length of 40 cm and weighs about 600 g. It has grey upperparts and largely grey-pink underparts, and is distinguished by a striking and diagnostic complete black collar against an otherwise white throat.

Distribution and habitat

The collared imperial pigeon occurs in northern and southern

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

and the

Aru Islands The Aru Islands Regency ( id, Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru) is a group of about 95 low-lying islands in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. It also forms a regency of Maluku Province, with a land area of . At the 2011 Census the Regency had a ...

. It has also been recorded from Boigu and Saibai islands. It may visit the northern

Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian mai ...

islands as a vagrant. It inhabits lowland rainforest, swamp forest, mangroves and riverine vegetation.

Taxonomy

The binomial commemorates the German naturalist

Salomon Müller Salomon Müller (7 April 1804 – 29 December 1864) was a German naturalist. He was born in Heidelberg, and died in Freiburg im Breisgau. Müller was the son of a saddler in Heidelberg. Along with Heinrich Boie and Heinrich Christian Macklot, he w ...

. There are two recognized subspecies: the nominate ''D. m. mullerii'' (Temminck, 1835), in lowland southern New Guinea, including the offshore islands of Boigu, Saibai and Daru, and the Aru Islands; and ''D. m. aurantia'' (A. B. Meyer, 1893) in northern New Guinea, from Bintuni Bay and the east shore of Geelvink Bay to Astrolabe Bay.

Diet

The pigeon principally feeds on fruit from forest trees and insects. In the

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

area, the main food during June/July was reported to be fruit of '' Tristiropsis canarioides'' which made up nearly half the diet. Some 30% of food volume were

ylang-ylang ''Cananga odorata'', known as ylang-ylang ( ) or cananga tree, is a tropical tree that is native to the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Queensland, Australia. It is also native to parts of Thailand and Viet ...

(''Cananga odorata'') fruit, the remainder being various Arecaceae (palm) fruits. Food is swallowed whole, and fruits thus eaten may have a diameter of up to 5 cm.

Nesting

The species lays a single egg on a flimsy platform nest in forest tree adjoining wetland.

References

* Higgins, P.J.; & Davies, S.J.J.F. (eds.) (1996): ''

Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds The ''Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds'', known as ''HANZAB'', is the pre-eminent scientific reference on birds in the region, which includes Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, and the surrounding ocean and subantarctic ...

. Volume 3: Snipe to Pigeons''. Oxford University Press: Melbourne. {{Taxonbar, from=Q605555 collared imperial pigeon Birds of the Aru Islands Birds of New Guinea collared imperial pigeon