The grey imperial pigeon (''Ducula pickeringii'') 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 lightweig ...

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 found in the Sulu Archipelago,

Miangas Miangas or Palmas is North Sulawesi's northernmost island, and one of 92 officially listed outlying islands of Indonesia. Etymology ''Miangas'' means "exposed to piracy", because pirates from Mindanao used to visit the island. In the 16th centur ...

and

Talaud Islands The Talaud Islands ( Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Talaud'') also spelled Talaur or Talaut, are a group of islands situated about 225 miles (360 km) northeast of Sulawesi, in Indonesia, north-east of the Sangihe Islands. The Talaud Islands are als ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s and

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s. It is threatened by

habitat loss 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 ...

Description

eBird eBird is an online database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. Originally restricted to sightings from the Western Hemisphere, the project ...

describes the bird as "Large pigeon with an elegant, silky appearance. Smooth, pearly gray below with dark gray wings, back, and tail (the first two can appear iridescent greenish in good light). Also note faint white eye-ring. Can be confused with Green Imperial-Pigeon, but Gray is much duller- and darker-winged. An inhabitant of forested offshore islands, where it is typically encountered singly or in pairs up in the canopy. Song is a low, booming “coOOOooouh" It has been noted feeding on fruits of figs and Cananga trees.

Habitat and Conservation Status

Its natural habitats at tropical moist lowland and primary and secondary forest and cultivated areas with trees. Little is known about its movements. It is reportedly resident on some northern Bornean islands, but certainly moves between Philippine islands, and varied in abundance from 1995 to 1997 on Karakelang, Indonesia. Like other small-island specialists, it presumably wanders in search of food. 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 ...

has assessed this bird as vulnerable with the population being estimated at 1,500 to 7,000 mature individuals. Its main threat is

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 ...

through both legal and

Illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corruption, corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, o ...

, conversion into farmland and urban development for tourism. Its large size makes it a target of hunters both for food and as a pet. It occurs in a few protected areas like the Turtle Islands National Park,

Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park The Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park ( ms, Taman Negara Tunku Abdul Rahman) comprises a group of 5 islands located between Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia. The park is spread over 4,929 hectares, two-thirds of which cover the sea. Before the Ic ...

, Maratuas and Pulau Mantanani Bird Sanctuary and

Rasa Island Rasa Island is a flat coral island in the Sulu Sea just off the coast of the municipality of Narra in Palawan, Philippines. It is a shallow island surrounded by mangroves and tidal flats containing one of the country's last remaining coastal fo ...

where it benefits from the protection of the

Philippine cockatoo The red-vented cockatoo (''Cacatua haematuropygia''), also known as the Philippine cockatoo and locally katala, abukay, agay or kalangay, is a species of cockatoo. It is endemic to the Philippines though pressured by various environmental degradat ...

. Conservation actions proposed are survey in suitable habitat in order to calculate density estimates, better understand movements and ecology and calculate remaining habitat to refine the population estimate. Propose sites/islands supporting key populations for establishment as strict protected areas. Eradicate

macaques The macaques () constitute a genus (''Macaca'') of gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and (in one instance) Gibraltar. Macaques are principal ...

and

black rats The black rat (''Rattus rattus''), also known as the roof rat, ship rat, or house rat, is a common long-tailed rodent of the stereotypical rat genus ''Rattus'', in the subfamily Murinae. It likely originated in the Indian subcontinent, but is n ...

from protected islands.Devise and initiate conservation awareness campaigns to control hunting and curb deforestation on key islands. Seek ban on trade in Imperial pigeons. Review taxonomic status of two subspecies ''(pickeringii'' and ''langhornei)''.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet.
grey imperial pigeon Birds of Malesia grey imperial pigeon Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Columbiformes-stub