Pink-headed Fruit Dove

The Pink-headed Fruit Dove, Ptilinopus porphyreus, is a small colorful dove. It is a resident breeding endemic bird in Indonesia where it occurs in the mountain forests of Sumatra, Java and Bali at altitudes of 3200 to 7200 feet. This bird is also known as the Pink-necked Fruit Dove or the Temminck’s Fruit Pigeon.

The male Pink-headed Fruit Dove has a purple-pink head, neck and throat, bordered below with a white band outlined in greenish black. The upper parts are green and the underparts grey, with yellow under tail coverts. The iris is orange, the bill is greenish, and feet are pink. The female is duller than the male, with a weaker breast band, and the juvenile is an even duller version of the female.

This dove feeds on figs, small fruit and berries in the upper canopy of the forest, where it is well-camouflaged amongst the green foliage. It builds a flimsy nest in a tree and lays one or sometimes two white eggs which are incubated for 20 days to hatching, with a further 15-16 days to fledging. It is a shy and inconspicuous species.