Sultan's cuckoo-dove (''Macropygia doreya'') is a

dove 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 ...

in the genus ''

Macropygia ''Macropygia'' is a genus of bird in the pigeon and dove family Columbidae. The genus is one of three genera known as cuckoo-doves. They are long tailed, range between 27 and 45 cm in length and have brown plumage. The genus ranges from Ind ...

'' found in the northern

Moluccas The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located eas ...

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

and the western Papuan islands. It was one of three new species defined when the

slender-billed cuckoo-dove The slender-billed cuckoo-dove (formerly ''Macropygia amboinensis'') was until recently the name of a species of bird in the family Columbidae. Its range covered Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and northern Australia. The binomial ''M. ...

was split up in 2016.

Description

They are typically about long. The males tend to have a slight rose/green colouration on their nape and neck. Many subspecies have whitish underparts, fine dark barring below and/or a whitish cap. The call of this dove is a very loud "whoop-a whoop" with some differences depending on the subspecies involved. Sultan's cuckoo-dove inhabits

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

, woodland,

scrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, Herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or ...

and rainforest regrowth areas. The doves can often be seen in pairs or groups. Its diet consists of

berries A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...

from both native plants and introduced

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...

species. They can be nomadic, depending on the supplies of food. They tend to fly short distances and low to the ground with great strength. Breeding occurs in spring and summer. The

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materia ...

is a flat platform of sticks and vines, either in a fork of a tree or on top of a low tree. One, creamy white,

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

is laid.

Subspecies

* ''M. d. doreya'' Bonaparte, 1854 - western

and western Papuan islands * ''M. d. balim''

Rand The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is financed ...

, 1941 - Balim Valley, north central New Guinea * ''M. d. albiceps'' Bonaparte, 1856 - northern

* ''M. d. atrata'' Ripley, 1941 - Togian Island * ''M. d. sanghirensis'' Salvadori, 1878 -

Sangihe Islands The Sangihe Islands (also spelled "Sangir", "Sanghir" or "Sangi") – id, Kepulauan Sangihe – are a group of islands which constitute two regencies within the province of North Sulawesi, in northern Indonesia, the Sangihe Islands Regen ...

and

Talaud Islands The Talaud Islands (Indonesian language, 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 Ta ...

* ''M. d. albicapilla'' Bonaparte, 1854 -

* ''M. d. sedecima''

Neumann Neumann is German language, German and Yiddish language, Yiddish for "new man", and one of the List of the most common surnames in Europe#Germany, 20 most common German surnames. People * Von Neumann family, a Jewish Hungarian noble family A� ...

, 1939 -

Sula Islands The Sula Islands Regency ( id, Kabupaten Kepulauan Sula) is one of the regencies in North Maluku province of Indonesia. It covers a land area of 3,338.67 km2 and consists of two of the three large islands comprising the Sula Archipelago, together ...

Description

Subspecies

References

Further reading