Hello and Happy New Year!
I’ll be sharing five posts over the next ten days, and because of this one’s festive colors, my wife deemed it the most appropriate for kicking off 2023.
The Beautiful Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus pulchellus) goes by several common names, including the Rose-fronted Pigeon and Crimson-capped Fruit Dove. Those names perhaps better describe the diagnostic features of this particular species, because all of the fruit doves are incredibly beautiful. Okay, maybe the word “Pigeon” doesn’t conjure up the best images for city dwellers, but the ones they’re thinking of are also known as (feral) Rock Doves. Honestly, Rock Doves are also quite attractive in my opinion, but probably too familiar to be appreciated. The names Pigeon and Dove seem to be used somewhat interchangeably. In fact, pigeons and doves are all in the Order Columbidae. In general, the name dove tends to be used for smaller birds in the order and pigeons for the larger ones, but it isn’t a scientific distinction based on taxonomic significance. It is a similar to naming an amphibian either frog or toad in the Anurans. Drier skinned Anurans tend to be called toads and wetter skinned ones called frogs, but it isn’t a scientific delineation.
These gorgeous fruit doves are found from Indonesia to New Guinea. I got my reference photos on a trip to the Syracuse Zoo years ago. Although that zoo isn’t the biggest, they always had great displays and a wide variety of animals that seemed happy. As a group the fruit doves are quite spectacular, and the genus includes 57 species. Do yourself a favor: run a quick google image search on “Fruit Dove” and prepare to have your socks knocked off. We tend to think of doves as being drab, but these give parrots a run for the money!
Please contact me if you’re interested in buying the original watercolor or a print of this painting. Some of my work is also available for licensing.
Leave a Reply