Good question. I am not an international dove/pigeon expert but I
independently came to the same idea as Allan. From consulting the various
(4) Asian bird guide books I have (not including the book Allan mentioned).
I am not sure but would be confident it is one of that genus. The head
pattern certainly only fits Grey Imperial-Pigeon Ducula pickeringii from the
books I looked at but the Philippines book says of it “easily separable from
the Green Imperial-Pigeon by the brownish grey wings and by the grey, not
chestnut undertail coverts. Your photo shows green tinged wings and a clear
buff to apricot colour undertail coverts, so that comes closer to Green
Imperial-Pigeon. Being captive, I would not rule out a hybrid of these two
species as this shows characters of both. Jurong Bird Park certainly houses
mixtures of some similar species. Maybe you should send the enquiry to them
and see what they reply (if at all). Both species are apparently common, at
least in Philippines. Or the books maybe only describe adults properly or
maybe with so many islands there is a lot of variation that books cannot
cover them all. It is certainly not a Red Turtle-Dove, most obviously as the
plain coloured tail is nothing like the members of that group.
Philip
—–Original Message—–
From: Birding-Aus [
Birding-Aus