Wetar Ground Dove
Pampusana hoedtii
A fairly large ground-dwelling forest dove. Male is mostly dark with a diagnostic pale head and breast. Upperparts are rufous-brown, head pale gray, belly blackish-brown, and throat, neck, and breast cream-colored. Female entirely brown, with head, neck, and tail considerably more rufous than rest of body. Singles and small groups inhabit forested lowlands on Timor and Wetar islands. Female distinguished from Little and Timor Cuckoo-Doves by shorter tail, dark eyes, and absence of barring. The species gives a two-note hooting call with a short introductory note and an upslurred second one: “wu-wOOYOOP.”
Identification
Body length is about 27 cm (11 in) long. The male bird has a blue-grey head and a greyish white throat. The breast is pale cream, and the belly is blackish. The hindneck is reddish brown. The back and rump are rufous. Tail feathers are dark olive-brown, and there is a purple patch on the sides of the breast and the lesser covert feathers. The beak is black, and the feet are reddish violet. The female's head, neck and breast are rusty chestnut. Its upperparts and belly are olive-brown.
Taxonomy
In 1871, Hermann Schlegel described the species as Leptoptila hoedtii from Wetar. The species is monotypic. It has been moved from the genus Gallicolumba to Alopecoenas Sharpe, 1899. The name of the genus was changed in 2019 to Pampusana Bonaparte, 1855 as this name has priority. The specific epithet is derived from Dirk Samuel Hoedt, a Dutch collector who owned plantations in the East Indies.
- Scientific name
- Pampusana hoedtii
- Authority
- (Schlegel, 1871)
- Order
- Columbiformes
- Family
- Columbidae
- Genus
- Pampusana
Range and habitat
The species is found in Wetar and Timor. Fewer than 20 birds were collected on Wetar around 1900, and there were many records in 2008 and 2009. In Timor-Leste, four or five birds were recorded near the border with Indonesia in 2005. There are records from only three localities in West Timor. It is found at elevations up to 950 m (3,120 ft). Its habitats are monsoon forests and gallery forests, and possibly woodland and bamboos.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The Wetar ground dove has been observed eating Ficus fruits on the ground. It appears to breed in the dry season, nesting in the canopy. It has been recorded calling from the canopy, giving a soft whu-wup call, sometimes with a du du-wup before it or a trrr after it.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
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