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. Slow, steady series of 'whoops'. This distinguishes the Superb Fruit-Dove from the Rose-Crowned fruit Dove.
Not Threatened.
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. Slow, steady series of 'whoops'. This distinguishes the Superb Fruit-Dove from the Rose-Crowned fruit Dove.
22-24 cm, 110 g
Taxonomy:
- Columba Superba Temminck, 1810, Halmahera. Affinities uncertain; considered by some to be most closely related to P. perousii, and allied to the large P. purpuratus species-group; alternative treatment places present species with the species-group that includes P. perlatus, P. ornatus, P. tannensis, P. aurantiifrons and P. wallacii. Two subspecies recognized. (source: Handbook of the Birds of World)
Subspecies and Distribution:
- * temminckii (Des Murs & Prévost, 1849) - Sulawesi and Sulu Is. * superbus (Temminck, 1810) - Moluccas, W Papuan Is and Aru Is through New Guinea to Admiralty Is and Bismarck Archipelago, D'Entrecasteaux Is and Louisiade Archipelago, and on to Solomon Is (E to Malaita) and S to E Australia (Torres Strait Is and Cape York to N New South Wales).
It is found along the coast and nearby ranges of Queensland and New South Wales south to Moruya. Found in rainforests, rainforest margins, mangroves, wooded stream-margins, and even isolated figs, lilly pillies and pittosporums.
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 season: September to January Clutch size: One Incubation: 14 days Time in nest: 7 days 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.