Cook Islands fruit-dove (Ptilinopus rarotongensis)

Adult and juvenile Cook Islands fruit-doves on branch
Adult and juvenile Cook Islands fruit-doves on branch

Cook Islands fruit-dove fact file

Cook Islands fruit-dove description

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassAves
OrderColumbiformes
FamilyColumbidae
GenusPtilinopus (1)

This small, beautifully coloured pigeon is found only on two small islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It has a bright magenta crown, against a pale grey head, chest and upper back. The Rarotonga subspecies also has a yellow belly with a bright magenta patch, whilst the Atiu subspecies has a pale greenish-yellow belly. The rest of its plumage is mostly green, apart from a yellow edging on the wing-feathers, and it has a pale green-brown bill (2) (3) (4). The male and female are similar in appearance, but juveniles are distinguished by the lack of red patches on its crown and belly (2). The calls of this bird, which are haunting coos, differ slightly between the two island populations.

Also known as
Rarotonga fruit-dove.
Size
Length: 20 – 24 cm (2)
Top

Cook Islands fruit-dove biology

As its name suggests, the Cook Islands fruit-dove has a diet consisting primarily of fruit, such as the small figs produced by the banyan tree. However, it has also been observed pecking small insects from the trees and bushes where it feeds (2).

The Cook Islands fruit-dove is thought to breed around the period between July and September, when it generally lays one egg in a nest of loose twigs (4). In Rarotonga, a nest was observed for six weeks; both parents were seen incubating the egg and the nestling took its first flight 16 days after hatching (5).

Top

Cook Islands fruit-dove range

Found only in the Cook Islands. There are two subspecies; Ptilinopus rarotongensis rarotongensis occurs on the island of Rarotonga, Ptilinopus rarotongensis goodwini is found only on Atiu Island (2).

Top

Cook Islands fruit-dove habitat

On Rarotonga the Cook Islands fruit-dove occurs in hillside and upland forest, and on Atiu it can be found in the makatea forest, (forest that is growing on a raised coral limestone reef). It also often ventures onto agricultural land on both islands (5).

Top

Cook Islands fruit-dove status

Classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List 2006 (1).

IUCN Red List species status – Vulnerable

Top

Cook Islands fruit-dove threats

As the Cook Islands fruit-dove occurs only on two small islands, it is vulnerable to threats such as introduced species, diseases and chance events, which could rapidly affect all the individuals in a population with devastating affects. It is reported that this bird is relatively common on both islands at present, but historically, the range of the Cook Islands fruit-dove was much larger; records show that it also used to be present on the islands of Aitutaki and Mauke. The loss of this bird from these islands shows its susceptibility to threats (3).

It is possible that introduced species may already be causing a slow decline of the Cook Islands fruit-dove. The black rat (Rattus rattus) is present on Rarotonga, where it preys on birds and their eggs and chicks. However, unlike the Eastern Polynesian flycatchers and lorikeets, there has been no marked decline in the fruit-dove since the black rat has become established, and therefore it is unlikely to be a major threat (6). The common myna, (a member of the starling family), which was introduced to the Cook Islands to control insect numbers in agricultural areas, prevents the fruit-dove from nesting in horticultural areas, where the myna is common and highly territorial (6).

Top

Cook Islands fruit-dove conservation

Whilst there are no known conservation measures in place aimed specifically at the Cook Islands fruit-dove, it probably benefits from conservation actions carried out for the endangered Rarotonga flycatcher (Pomarea dimidiata), such as a rat control programme. To prevent the Cook Island fruit-dove disappearing from more of its range, it is important to monitor populations carefully, conduct research to determine their immediate conservation requirements, and take measures to prevent the introduction of any more exotic species (2) (3).

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Top

Find out more

For further information on this species see the Cook Islands Biodiversity Database:
http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/species.asp?id=8736

For more information on this and other bird species please see:

Top

Authentication

Information authenticated (30/04/07) by Gerald McCormack, Director of the Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust.
http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org

Top

Glossary

Subspecies
A population usually restricted to a geographical area that differs from other populations of the same species, but not to the extent of being classified as a separate species.
Top

References

  1. IUCN Red List (January, 2007)
    http://www.iucnredlist.org
  2. del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. and Sargatal, J. (1997) Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 4: Sandgrouse to Cuckoos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
  3. Birdlife International (April, 2007)
    http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/ebas/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=2683&m=0
  4. Cook Islands Biodiversity Database (April, 2007)
    http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/species.asp?id=8736
  5. McCormack, G. (2005) Cook Islands Fruit-Dove (Kūkupa). Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Available at:
    http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/showarticle.asp?id=1
  6. McCormack, G. (2007) Pers. comm.

More »Related species

Wallace’s fruit dove (Ptilinopus wallacii)Mariana fruit-dove (Ptilinopus roseicapilla)Henderson fruit-dove (Ptilinopus insularis)Red-naped fruit dove (Ptilinopus dohertyi)Many-coloured fruit-dove (Ptilinopus perousii)Orange dove (Ptilinopus victor)Jambu fruit-dove (Ptilinopus jambu)Dark-tailed laurel pigeon (Columba bollii)

This species is featured in:

This species is affected by global climate
change. To learn about climate change
and the species that are affected,
visit our climate change pages.

Please donate to ARKive today

Help us share the wonders of the natural world. Donate today!

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.

Get involved

ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!

X
Close

Image credit

Adult and juvenile Cook Islands fruit-doves on branch  
Adult and juvenile Cook Islands fruit-doves on branch

© Gerald McCormack

Gerald McCormack
http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/

X
Close

Link to this photo

ARKive species - Cook Islands fruit-dove (Ptilinopus rarotongensis) Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.

Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.

Read more about

X
Close

MyARKive

MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.

X
Close

Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials

Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.

Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:

  • view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
  • download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
  • teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.

End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.

Additional use of flagged material

Green flagged material 

Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.

Creative commons material

Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.

Any other use

Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.

Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.