Negros fruit dove
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Family
Genus
SPECIES
Ptilinopus arcanus

The Negros fruit dove (Ptilinopus arcanus ) is a species of bird in the pigeon and dove family, Columbidae. It is endemic to the island of Negros in the Philippines. This fruit dove is known from a single female specimen collected from the slopes of Mount Kanlaon in the northern part of the island. While it was found at a high elevation, it is suspected that the species originally lived in the lowland dipterocarp forests and was driven to higher elevations by habitat destruction. While some have suggested that the specimen is either a runt or a hybrid instead of a valid species, this is not widely accepted. The female Negros fruit dove was a small fruit dove with vivid dark green plumage and an ashy-grey forehead. It had a distinctive ring of bare yellow skin around its eye, and yellow fringes to some of its feathers gave it the appearance of having a yellow wingbar when perched. The throat was white, while the undertail and vent were yellow.

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The original specimen was shot along with a bird suspected to be its mate from a fruiting tree. Nothing else is known about its behavior. The species has not been definitively reported since its original discovery in 1953, and as several searches of Mount Kanlaon and the surrounding forests have not discovered any sign of the bird, many believe that it may be extinct. However, a local hunter from southern Negros claimed to have shot it the nineties, and the discovery of many species formerly thought endemic to Negros on the nearby island of Panay have given some hope that the species may persist. As such, it is currently listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN. Any surviving population would be very small, likely numbering fewer than 50 individuals, and would be threatened by habitat destruction and hunting.

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Appearance

The Negros fruit dove is a small(16.5cm height), short-tailed fruit dove. It was known only by a single female specimen. The female is a vivid dark green overall with an ash-grey forehead above an extensive ring of bare yellow skin that surrounds the eye. The greater coverts and tertial feathers have broad yellow fringes that create a narrow, if conspicuous, wingbar when the wing is folded. The throat is white while the vent and undertail coverts are yellow. The bill was black and the feet were a dull purplish-red. The fruit dove is 16.5 cm (6.5 in) long.

Distribution

Geography

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The Negros fruit dove is believed to be endemic to the island of Negros in the central part of the Philippines. However, some hope exists that the bird may persist undetected on a nearby island. The only known birds were collected from a forest at the edge of a clearing on Mount Kanlaon at an elevation of about 1,100 m (3,600 ft). The forest was noted as being "halfway between the genuine lowland dipterocarp forest type... and the real mid-mountain forest type." It is suspected that the species preferred habitat at a lower altitude, and that the collected pair may have been driven to higher elevations by deforestation in the lowlands.

Negros fruit dove habitat map

Biome

Negros fruit dove habitat map
Negros fruit dove
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Habits and Lifestyle

The sole sighting of the Negros fruit dove involved a pair of birds seen eating at a fruiting tree. No other information is known about its behavior.

Lifestyle
Seasonal behavior

Population

Population number

The species has not been recorded since the original pair of Negros fruit doves were shot in May 1953 at Mt Kanlaon. However, a local hunter in southern Negros claimed to have shot it in the nineties, which has given hope that the species may still exist, and as such the IUCN lists the Negros fruit dove as Critically Endangered, as any surviving population is likely to number fewer than 50 birds. If the species still exists, it is likely that habitat destruction for agriculture, timber, and charcoal-burning and hunting, a common problem for all other pigeons on Negros, are major threats.

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As numerous collectors had visited Negros prior to 1953 and did not record the species, it is likely that it was already very rare by the time of its discovery. It is suspected that the Negros fruit dove was originally a lowland species, but the destruction of forests in northern Negros forced the dove from its ideal habitat and led to its probable extinction. Today, no forest exists in northern Negros at an elevation lower than 750 m (2,460 ft), and several searches in the 1990s of Mount Kanlaon and the surrounding area failed to discover any sign of the species' continued existence. Ornithological fieldwork has discovered that the nearby island of Panay is home to some species previously thought to be endemic to Negros, including the Negros bleeding-heart. This discovery and the presence of unexplored lowland forests on Panay give hope that the Negros fruit dove may still exist in low numbers on a nearby island. Other than the depiction of the bird on a Philippine environmental education poster in the 1990s, no conservation measures have been enacted to protect any surviving population.

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References

1. Negros fruit dove Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negros_fruit_dove
2. Negros fruit dove on The IUCN Red List site - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22691568/93316693

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