Green imperial pigeon

Taxonomy

In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the green imperial pigeon in his six volume Ornithologie. He used the French name Le pigeon ramier des Moluques and the Latin Palumbus moluccensis. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. Brisson believed his specimen had come from the Maluku Islands but the species does not occur there and in 1918 the type locality was designated as the island of Flores in Indonesia. The specific name aenea is from the Latin aeneus meaning "of a bronze colour" or "coppery". This species is now placed in the genus Ducula that was introduced by the English naturalist Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1836.

Eleven subspecies are recognised:

• D. a. sylvatica (Tickell, 1833) – Indian green imperial pigeon – north India and Nepal to south China to Thailand, and Indochina
• D. a. pusilla (Blyth, 1849) – south India, Sri Lanka
• D. a. andamanica Abdulali, 1964 – Andaman Islands
• D. a. consobrina (Salvadori, 1887) – islands of West Sumatra except Enggano Island
• D. a. polia (Oberholser, 1917) – Sunda green imperial pigeon – Malay Peninsula to Greater and Lesser Sunda Islands
• D. a. palawanensis (Blasius, W, 1888) Banggi Island (north Borneo) to Palawan and nearby islands (southwest Philippines)
• D. a. fugaensis (Hachisuka, 1930) – north Philippines (Calayan, Camiguin and Fuga Island)
• D. a. nuchalis (Cabanis, 1882) – Maroon-naped imperial pigeon – north Luzon (north Philippines)
• D. a. aenea (Linnaeus, 1766) – Nominate subspecies – Philippines (other than northern Luzon and Palawan)
• D. a. intermedia (Meyer, AB & Wiglesworth, 1894) – Talaud imperial pigeon – Talaud Islands and Sangihe Islands
• D. a. paulina (Bonaparte, 1854) – Chestnut-naped imperial pigeon – Sulawesi, Togian, Banggai and Sula Islands

The subspecies D. a. oenothorax is sometimes treated as a distinct species, the Enggano imperial pigeon (Ducula oenothorax). The Nicobar imperial pigeon (Ducula nicobarica) was formerly treated as conspecific.

Description

The green imperial pigeon is a large, plump pigeon, 45 cm in length. Its back, wings and tail are metallic green. The head and underparts are white, apart from maroon undertail coverts. Sexes are similar. The bird's call is deep and resonant, and is often the first indication of the presence of this treetop species.

Distribution and habitat

This is a forest species which is a widespread resident breeding bird in tropical southern Asia from Nepal and India east to Indonesia. It has several subspecies, including the distinctive Celebes form, chestnut-naped imperial pigeon (Ducula aenea paulina).

Behaviour and ecology

This is an arboreal dove, feeding on plant material in the tree canopy. Its flight is fast and direct, with the regular beats and an occasional sharp flick of the wings which are characteristic of pigeons in general. It builds a stick nest in a tree and lays a single white egg. The birds are not very gregarious, but will form small flocks.

Gallery

File:CarpophagaAenothoraxKeulemans.jpg|Illustration by Keulemans, 1893 File:GreenImperialPigeon.jpg|Illustration by Henrik Grønvold & E.C. Stuart Baker, 1913 Image:Green Imperial Pigeon RWD5n.jpg|At San Diego Zoo Image:Green Imperial Pigeon RWD4.jpg|At San Diego Zoo

References

References

1. BirdLife International. (2021). "''Ducula aenea''".
2. Brisson, Mathurin Jacques. (1760). "Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés". Jean-Baptiste Bauche.
3. Allen, J.A.. (1910). "Collation of Brisson's genera of birds with those of Linnaeus". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History.
4. Linnaeus, Carl. (1766). "Systema naturae: per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis". Laurentii Salvii.
5. (1918). "Notes on pigeons". Novitates Zoologicae.
6. (1937). "Check-list of Birds of the World". Harvard University Press.
7. Jobling, James A.. (2010). "The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names". Christopher Helm.
8. Hodgson, Brian Houghton. (1836). "Notices of the ornithology of Nepal". Asiatic Researches, or, Transactions of the Society Instituted in Bengal.
9. (2020). "Pigeons". International Ornithologists' Union.
10. "Indian green Imperial-Pigeon (Ducula aenea sylvatica) - zootierliste.de".
11. "Sunda green imperial-pigeon (Ducula aenea polia) - zootierliste.de".
12. "Maroon-naped imperial pigeon (D. a. nuchalis) - Avibase".
13. "Talaud imperial pigeon (D. a. intermedia) - Avibase".
14. "ZootierlisteHomepage".
15. (2020). "Enggano Imperial-pigeon (''Ducula oenothorax'')". Lynx Edicions.
16. (2020). "Green Imperial-pigeon (''Ducula aenea'')". Lynx Edicions.
17. Maden, Kamal. (28 November 2020). "Rare wild pigeon sighted in Nepal".
18. (2020-11-27). "Green pigeon spotted in Jhapa".