• Myristicivora Reichenbach, L. 1853. Handbuch der speciellen Ornithologie. Dresden : Expedition der Vollständigsten Naturgeschichte Lief. 3 xxxi pp. [publication dated as 1852] [xxvi] [published without description but based by reference on Columba littoralis Temminck, 1809 and available under ICZN Art.12(b)(5); type species, Columba littoralis Temminck, 1809, based both on the 'Pigeon blanc mangeur de muscade' of Sonnerat and Columba alba Gmelin, 1789, itself based on Sonnerat's white nutmeg-eating pigeon, as too was Columba bicolor Scopoli, 1786, see Salvadori, T. 1893. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Columbae, or Pigeons. London : British Museum Vol. 21 xvii 676 pp. XV pls (227)—these three names are thus objective synonyms].

  Type species:

   Columba littoralis Temminck, 1809 by original designation (=Ducula bicolor (Scopoli, 1786)).

  Secondary source:

   Salvadori, T. 1893. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Columbae, or Pigeons. London : British Museum Vol. 21 xvii 676 pp. XV pls.

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

East Bay of Bengal, coastal SE Asia and Phillippines through all Greater and Lesser Sundas and Sulawesi to Moluccas, islands in Banda and Arafura Seas, New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago and Admiralty Ils.

IBRA

NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT)

IMCRA

Christmas Island Province (23)

Other Regions

Christmas Island terrestrial & freshwater

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Northern Territory: N Gulf, N coastal
  • Queensland: N Gulf, NE coastal
  • Western Australia: N coastal
• Indonesia
  • Aru Islands
  • Irian Jaya
  • Sulawesi (Celebes)
• Papua New Guinea

Oriental Region

• Christmas Island (Aust. Terr.)
• India
• Indonesia
  • Sulawesi (Celebes)
  • Sumatra
• Philippines

Distribution References

History of changes

• Columba bicolor Scopoli, G.A. 1786. Specimen Zoologicum exhibens Characteres genericos & specificos, nonnec Nomina trivialia novorum Animalium. pp. 84–96 in, Deliciae Florae et Faunae Insubricae; seu Novae, aut minus cognitae species plantarum et animalium, quas in Insubria austriaca tam spontaneas quam exoticas vidit, descripsit et aeri incidi curavit. Ticini : Monasterii S. Salvatoris. Pt II 115 pp. 25 pls [publication dated as 1786–1788] [94] [based on 'Pigeon ou Ramier blanc mangeur de muscade(s) de la Nouvelle Guinée' in Sonnerat, P. 1776. Voyage à la Nouvelle Guinée, Dans lequel on trouve la description des Lieux, des Observations physiques & morales, & des détails relatifs à l'Histoire Naturelle dans le Regne Animal & le Regne Végétal. Paris : Ruault xii 206 pp. 120 pls (168-169, pl. 103)].

Taxonomic Decision for Subspecies Arrangement

• Johnstone, R.E. 1981. Notes on the distribution, ecology and taxonomy of the Red-crowned Pigeon (Ptilinopus regina) and Torres Strait Pigeon (Ducula bicolor) in Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 9: 7-22 [21]

Distribution

Extra Distribution Information

Erratic vagrant on Christmas Island, see Andrews (1900), Gibson-Hill (1947) and Stokes (1988), possibly also Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Elsewhere this nomadic form is widespread on small islands in the Indo-Melanesian archipelagos, west to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, north to the Philippines, and east to the Moluccas and W New Guinean islands.

IMCRA

Christmas Island Province (23)

Other Regions

Christmas Island terrestrial & freshwater

Distribution References

General References

Bruce, M.D. 1976. Earliest record of the Torres Strait Pigeon Ducula spilorrhoa from Lord Howe Island, with comments on the subspecies melvillensis. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 96: 97-99 (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement alternative arrangements in Australian Region)

Bruce, M.D. 1989. A reappraisal of species limits in the Pied Imperial Pigeon Ducula bicolor (Scopoli, 1786) superspecies. Rivista Italiana Ornitologia, Milano 59: 217-222 (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement alternative arrangements in Australian Region)

Frith, H.J. 1982. Pigeons and Doves of Australia. Adelaide : Rigby vii 304 pp., 32 pls. (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement alternative arrangements in Australian Region (with reservations))

Goodwin, D. 1960. Taxonomy of the genus Ducula. Ibis 102: 526-535 (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement alternative arrangements in Australian Region)

Goodwin, D. 1983. Pigeons and Doves of the World. Ithaca : Cornell University Press 363 pp. 3 pls. (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement alternative arrangements in Australian Region)

Peters, J.L. 1937. Check-list of Birds of the World. Cambridge : Harvard University Press Vol. 3 xiii 311 pp. (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement alternative arrangements in Australian Region)

Rand, A.L. 1941. Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 32 New and interesting birds from New Guinea. American Museum Novitates 1102: 1-15 (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement alternative arrangements in Australian Region)

Rothschild, W. & Hartert, E. 1901. Notes on Papuan birds. Novitates Zoologicae 8: 102-162 (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement alternative arrangements in Australian Region)

Salvadori, T. 1893. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Columbae, or Pigeons. London : British Museum Vol. 21 xvii 676 pp. XV pls. (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)

Siebers, H.C. 1930. Fauna Buruana. Treubia 7(suppl. 5): 181-187 (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement alternative arrangements in Australian Region)

White, C.M.N. & Bruce, M.D. 1986. The Birds of Wallacea (Sulawesi, the Moluccas & Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia). An annotated check-list. B.O.U. Check-list No. 7. London : British Ornithologists' Union 524 pp. (subspecific arrangement and for specific limits of Australo-Papuan populations)

History of changes

• Carpophaga spilorrhoa Gray, G.R. 1858. A list of the birds, with descriptions of new species, obtained by Mr Alfred R. Wallace in the Aru and Ké Islands. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1858: 169-198 [Mathews, G.M. 1911. On some necessary alterations in the nomenclature of birds. Pt II. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 1–22 (cf. Zimmer, J.T. 1926. Catalogue of the Edward E. Ayer Ornithological Library. Field Museum of Natural History Publications, Zoological Series 16: 1–364 (Pt 1, Publ. 239), 365–706 (Pt 2, Publ. 240))] [186].

  Type data:

   Lectotype BMNH 1858.3.10.6 ♂ adult, Aru Ils.
  Paralectotype(s) BMNH unspecified ♂
  Comment: for identification of syntypes, see Salvadori, T. 1893. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Columbae, or Pigeons. London : British Museum Vol. 21 xvii 676 pp. XV pls (232), one of which misidentified as holotype by Warren, R.L.M. 1966. Type-specimens of Birds in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 1 Non-Passerines. London : British Museum ix 320 pp., cf. Frith, H.J. 1982. Pigeons and Doves of Australia. Adelaide : Rigby vii 304 pp. 32 pls (123): note that Gray's reference to '♂ in British Museum' in the original description is collective; lectotypification effected under ICZN Art. 74(b).
• Myristicivora bicolor melvillensis Mathews, G.M. 1912. Additions and corrections to my Reference List to the Birds of Australia. Austral Avian Records 1(2): 25-52 [Date published 2 Apr 1912] [27] [published without author—authorship credited in Austral Avian Rec. 1: 65].

  Type data:

   Holotype AMNH 611384 ♀ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 10704), Melville Is., NT
  Comment: for identification of holotype, see Greenway, J.C. 1978. Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Pt 2. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 161: 1–306.
• Ducula constans Bruce, M.D. 1989. A reappraisal of species limits in the Pied Imperial Pigeon Ducula bicolor (Scopoli, 1786) superspecies. Rivista Italiana Ornitologia, Milano 59: 217-222 [219].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM A13110 ♂ adult, near The Loop, Prince Regent River, WA (15º28´S 125º40´E).

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Schodde, R. in Schodde, R. & Mason, I.J. 1997. Aves (Columbidae to Coraciidae). In, Houston, W.W.K. & Wells, A. (eds). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing, Australia Vol. 37.2 xiii 440 pp. [52] (based on Johnstone, R.E. 1981. Notes on the distribution, ecology and taxonomy of the Red-crowned Pigeon (Ptilinopus regina) and Torres Strait Pigeon (Ducula bicolor) in Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 9: 7–22)

Introduction

Frequently treated as a subspecies of Ducula (Myristicivora) bicolor following Johnstone (1981)

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Patchy along coastal northern Australia, in Kimberley Division between Kunmunya and Cape Londonderry, WA, in Arnhem Land between Point Pearce and McArthur River and inland to Katherine and along Roper River, NT, and on Cape York Peninsula south to Kowanyama and occasionally the lower Norman River on west coast to Coen and Laura inland, and beyond to about Sarina on central E QLD coast—also off-shore islands in Bonaparte Archipelago, WA, Melville-Bathurst Ils, Groote Eylandt and Sir Edward Pellew group, NT, islands throughout Torres Strait, QLD, and islands off NE QLD coast south to Whitsunday group, vagrant further south to Lord Howe Is.—elsewhere in coastal S and E New Guinea and adjacent islands.

IBRA

NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT)

Ecological Descriptors

Aerial, arboreal, closed forest, diurnal, frugivorous, gregarious, mangrove, migratory, nomadic, open forest, tall forest, volant.

Extra Ecological Information

Randomly dispersed, seasonal breeder, arboreal fruit-eater in rainforest trees on Australian mainland, roosts and nests colonially in low broad-leaf forest on offshore islands and coastal stands of mangroves, arrives seasonally from New Guinea(?) in July-Aug. in Arnhem Land and mainland QLD and departs Feb.-Apr., present year-round in Torres Strait, sedentary and dispersed in Kimberley Division.

General References

Atherton, R.G. & Greeves, D. 1986. Torresian Imperial-Pigeon Ducula spilorrhoa on Green Is., north-eastern Queensland. The Emu 85: 261-263 [publication date Mathews, G.M. 1920. Dates of ornithological works. Austral Avian Records 4: 1–27] (population status)

Crome, F.H.J. 1975. Breeding, feeding and status of the Torres Strait Pigeon at Low Isles, north-eastern Queensland. The Emu 75: 189-198 (movements, status, feeding, diet, nidification)

Dell, J. 1978. Torres Strait Pigeon breeding in Kimberley, WA. The Emu 78: 43 [Mathews, G.M. 1927. Systema Avium Australasianarum. A systematic list of the birds of the Australasian region. London : British Ornithologists' Union Pt 1 iv 426 pp.] (nidification)

Frith, H.J., Crome, F.H.J. & Wolfe, T.O. 1976. Food of fruit-pigeons in New Guinea. The Emu 76: 49-58 [Mathews, G.M. 1925. The Birds of Australia. Supplements 4 & 5. Bibliography of the Birds of Australia Pts 1 & 2. London : H.F. & G. Witherby viii 149 pp. Mathews, G.M. 1920. The Birds of Australia. Supplement No. 1. Check List of the Birds of Australia Part 1. Orders Casuariiformes to Menuriformes. London : Witherby iv 1–116 pp. [Zimmer, J.T. 1926. Catalogue of the Edward E. Ayer Ornithological Library. Field Museum of Natural History Publications, Zoological Series 16: 1–364 (Pt 1, Publ. 239), 365–706 (Pt 2, Publ. 240) (collation of livraisons affecting original description) Mathews, G.M. 1911. On some necessary alterations in the nomenclature of birds. Pt II. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 1–22 (collation of livraisons affecting original description) Sherborn, C.D. 1922. Index Animalium; sive, Index nominem quae ab A.D. 1758 generibus et speciebus animalium imposita sunt, societatibus eruditorum adiuvantibus. Sectio Secunda, 1801–1850. London : British Museum Pt 1 cxxxvi 128 pp. [lxxx]]] (diet)

Johnstone, R.E. 1981. Notes on the distribution, ecology and taxonomy of the Red-crowned Pigeon (Ptilinopus regina) and Torres Strait Pigeon (Ducula bicolor) in Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 9: 7-22 (distribution, ecology, nidification, taxonomy)

Thorsborne, A.S. & Thorsborne, M.G. 1988. Population changes of the Torresian Imperial-Pigeon Ducula spilorrhoa over twenty-one years on North Brook Is., N Queensland. The Emu 88: 1-8 [Mathews, G.M. 1919. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 7 pt 5 pp. 385–499 + xii pls 363–370 Appendixes A & B [publication dated as from preface, 12 June 1919 given in Appendix B] (Appendix B)] (population status, movements)

Walker, T.A. 1986. Numbers of the Torresian Imperial-Pigeon Ducula spilorrhoa on Double Cone Is., central Queensland. Sunbird 16: 41-45 [Zimmer, J.T. 1926. Catalogue of the Edward E. Ayer Ornithological Library. Field Museum of Natural History Publications, Zoological Series 16: 1–364 (Pt 1, Publ. 239), 365–706 (Pt 2, Publ. 240) Mathews, G.M. 1911. On some necessary alterations in the nomenclature of birds. Pt II. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 1–22 [For publication date Mathews, G.M. 1913. New generic names, with some notes on others. Austral Avian Records 2: 55–62]] (population status, movements)

White, C.M.N. & Bruce, M.D. 1986. The Birds of Wallacea (Sulawesi, the Moluccas & Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia). An annotated check-list. B.O.U. Check-list No. 7. London : British Ornithologists' Union 524 pp. (distribution of forms, taxonomy)

History of changes