Superb Fruit-Dove.
Photo: Purnell Collection © Australian Museum
Superb Fruit-Dove.
Photo: Purnell Collection © Australian Museum
Distribution map of Ptilinopus superbus
Map © Birds Australia Birdata
Superb Fruit-Dove
Scientific name: Ptilinopus superbus
Family: Columbidae
Order: Columbiformes
What does it look like?
Description
The Superb Fruit-Dove is a small colourful pigeon of the tree canopy. It is a compact bird, with short rounded wings and a short tail. The male has a purple crown, an orange hindneck, a blue-black breastband that separates a grey upper breast from white underparts. These are partly barred green, and the rest of the body is green. The green tail has grey tips. The female is green, with a grey breast and white underparts. There is a smallish purple patch on the crown. Young birds resemble females but lack the purple crown patch. This species is also called the Purple-crowned Fruit Dove or Pigeon, or the Superb Fruit-Pigeon.
Similar species
The Superb Fruit-Dove is similar in size and, from the ground, often difficult to distinguish from the Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove, P. regina, when high in the forest canopy. However, at closer quarters the male Superb Fruit-Dove is much more striking and, like the male, the female has white underparts partly barred at the sides with green, in contrast to the apricot-yellow underparts of both sexes of the Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove.
Where does it live?
Distribution
The Superb Fruit-Dove is found along the coast and nearby ranges of Queensland and New South Wales south to Moruya.
Habitat
The Superb Fruit-Dove is found in rainforests, rainforest margins, mangroves, wooded stream-margins, and even isolated figs, lilly pillies and pittosporums.
Seasonal movements
The Superb Fruit-Dove may migrate to New Guinea in winter, but little is known of its movements, or the reasons for its sometimes southerly flights as far as Tasmania.
What does it do?
Feeding
Superb Fruit-Doves are arboreal (living entirely in trees) and feed almost exclusively on fruit, mainly in large trees. They have a large gape, which allows them to swallow bulky items.
Breeding
Superb Fruit-Doves build a flimsy platform nest of twigs in bushy trees from 5 m - 30 m above the ground. The female incubates the eggs at night while the male incubates by day.
Living with us
Living with humans
Clearing of their forest habitat restricts access to fruit by Superb Fruit-Doves. They are listed as vulnerable in New South Wales. As they often move at night, many young birds fly into windows of buildings during their north-south movements.References
Pizzey, G. and Knight, F. 1997. Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. Angus and Robertson, Sydney.
Morcombe, M. 2000. Field guide to Australian Birds. Steve Parish Publishing.
Higgins, P.J. and S.J.J.F. Davies (eds) 1996. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds, Volume 3 (Snipe to Pigeons). Oxford University Press, Victoria.
Slater, P, Slater, P, and Slater, R 1989. The Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds. Lansdowne. Revised edition.