Spice Imperial-Pigeon

Ducula myristicivora

A large, stocky pigeon that is found on islands off the shore of Halmahera and far western Papua. Gray head, emerald-green back and wings, blue tail and rusty vent. The eye is red and there is a large knob-like projection on the front top of the bill. Found in a variety of forested habitats, and some wander between islands, sometimes straying to the mainland. Voice a deep, gravelly, 2-note “grrr-waw”, with the second note higher than the first. Similar Spectacled Imperial-Pigeon may co-occur but is separated by its white spectacle around the eye and lack of a knob on the bill.

Taxonomy

The spice imperial pigeon was formally described in 1786 by the Austrian naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli and given the binomial name Columba myristicivora. The specific epithet myristicivora combines the botanical genus name Myristica that contains the nutmeg (from the Ancient Greek muristikos meaning "fragrant"), with the Latin -vorus meaning "eating". The type locality is New Guinea. This species is now placed in the genus Ducula that was introduced by the English naturalist Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1836.<p>The Geelvink imperial pigeon (D. geelvinkiana) of the Schouten (or Geelvink) Islands was formerly considered conspecific, but was recognized as a distinct species by the IOC in 2021.

Scientific name
Ducula myristicivora
Authority
(Scopoli, 1786)
Order
Columbiformes
Family
Columbidae
Genus
Ducula

Range and habitat

Migration
Resident species

Conservation

Population trend
stable

Photos

Distribution

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