Rose-crowned fruit dove
The rose-crowned fruit dove, also known as pink-capped fruit dove or Swainson's fruit dove, is a medium-sized fruit dove that is found in parts of southern Indonesia, northern Australia and eastern Australia.
Taxonomy
The rose-crowned fruit dove was formally described in 1825 by the English naturalist William Swainson. He considered his specimens as a variant of the grey-green fruit dove and specified the scientific name as Ptilinopus purpuratus var. Regina.The type locality is New [South Wales].
Five subspecies are recognised:P. r. flavicollis Bonaparte, 1855 – Flores, Savu, Rote, Semau and west Timor P. r. roseipileum Hartert, EJO, 1904 – east Timor, Wetar, Romang, Kisar, Leti and Moa P. r. xanthogaster – Damar Island, Sermata, Nila, Teun and Babar Islands, Banda, Kai and Tanimbar Islands and Aru Islands P. r. ewingii Gould, 1842 – northeast Western Australia to northeast Northern Territory and Melville Island P. r. regina Swainson, 1825 – Torres Strait islands, north Cape York Peninsula, northeast Queensland to southeast New South Wales
Description
The rose-crowned fruit dove is long and has a grey head and breast, an orange belly, whitish throat, yellow-orange iris, and greyish green bill and feet. It has a pinkish-red crown with yellow border. The Indonesian subspecies, P. r. xanthogaster, has a whitish crown and paler grey head and breast. Both sexes are similar. The young has a green-colored crown and plumage.Distribution and habitat
The rose-crowned fruit dove is distributed in lowland rainforests of northern and eastern Australia, and Tropical and [subtropical dry broadleaf forests|monsoon forests] of northern Australia, Lesser Sunda Islands and Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The diet consists mainly of various fruits, palms and vines. The female usually lays a single white egg.Widespread and common throughout its large range, the rose-crowned fruit dove is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.