Pinon's Imperial-Pigeon (Ducula pinon jobiensis) 13 September 2019, Maur Village, East Sepik, Papua New Guinea
Pinon's Imperial-Pigeon (Ducula pinon

)

Pinon's Imperial-Pigeon (Ducula pinon

)


This individual was exceptionally tame but the villagers insisted it was wild. It appeared to have been adopted by the tribe as a sort of mascot. I have now been advised that the bottom photo indicates this bird may have been pinioned, which seems likely.

This large pigeon is endemic to New Guinea. Two subspecies are found on the main island, of which this is D. p. jobiensis characterized by whitish scaling on its wing coverts as seen here. This race is limited to the northern lowlands of New Guinea. A third race occurs on the D'Entrecasteaux and Louisiade archipelagos at the extreme east end of the main island. Some authors split it as a separate species characterized by its pink head, but this split is not recognized by any of the three main world checklists. Canon PowerShot SX60.

References:

Baptista, L.F., Trail, P.W., Horblit, H.M., Kirwan, G.M. & Garcia, E.F.J. (2019). Pinon's Imperial-pigeon (Ducula pinon). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/54390 on 31 October 2019).

Gregory, P. (2017) Birds of New Guinea, Including Bismarck Archipelago and Boughainville. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
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