Marquesan imperial-pigeon  (Ducula galeata)

The Marquesan imperial-pigeon is a large, broad-winged pigeon with a distinctively flattened cere. The plumage is mostly dark slate-grey, shimmering with metallic bronze-green reflections on upperparts, with rufous-chestnut undertail-coverts (3).

The Marquesan imperial-pigeon is endemic to Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia, where it is restricted to valleys in the west and north of the island (3). However, five birds have also been translocated to the island of Ua Huka, 50 km east of Nuka Hiva, where the species became extinct hundreds of years ago (4). No more than 150 individuals are thought to remain in total (3).

Found in remote wooded valleys from 250 to 1,300 m above sea level, although records also exist from secondary forest and at the edge of banana and orange plantations (3).

This frugivorous pigeon feeds on the fruits of both native and exotic plants, including large quantities of guava (Psidium guajava), as well as on leaves, flowers, grain and invertebrates (3) (4) (5).

Very little is known about the Marquesan imperial-pigeon's courtship and reproduction. The breeding season is thought to be long, extending from at least mid-May to December. Nests are usually situated in trees at between 13 and 20 m above the ground, but may be as low as 5 m (4). Only one egg is laid at a time, suggesting that the species is long-lived with a slow reproductive turnover (3).

The main threats to the Marquesan imperial pigeon are illegal hunting, habitat loss and modification, predation and competition (3) (4). Habitat has been degraded throughout a long period of Polynesian occupancy through clearance for settlements, agriculture and forestry, fire regimes, introduced vegetation, and importation of mammalian herbivores including grazing feral stock, although cattle have now been eradicated and goats and pigs are decreasing in number (3) (4). It is feared that construction of new roads may lead not only to further habitat loss, but also to greater access and considerable disturbance to the last few remaining inaccessible refuges (3). Introduced predators such as cats and rats, particularly black rats (Rattus rattus), are also thought to pose a serious potential threat to eggs, nestlings, juveniles and adults (3) (4). In addition, black rats compete for fruit, reducing the available food supply for the Marquesan imperial-pigeon (4).

The Marquesan imperial-pigeon is revered in local culture and hunting is prohibited, although it clearly continues illegally (3). In May/June 2000, the Ornithological Society of Polynesia (MANU) translocated five tagged birds to the black rat-free island of Ua Huka, where they continued to be monitored (3) (4) (6). The presence of an untagged bird found in 2002 suggests that breeding in the translocated population has occurred (4). If this population is deemed to be successful, further translocations will occur to bolster this second population, and possibly create a third elsewhere, thereby removing the insecurity associated with the species being restricted to a single island (3) (4).

For more information on the Marquesan imperial-pigeon see:

• Thorsen, M., Blanvillain, C. and Sulpice, R. (2002) Reasons for decline, conservation needs, and a translocation of the critically endangered upe (Marquesas imperial pigeon, Ducula galeata), French Polynesia. DOC Science Internal Series 88. Department of Conservation, Wellington, New Zealand. Available at:
  http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents/science-and-technical/dsis88.pdf
• BirdLife International:
  http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=2721&m=0

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