Featured Article Summary #271

The white-headed fruit dove (Ptilinopus eugeniae) is a pigeon family bird described by John Gould in 1856. Its name, eugeniae, honors French empress Eugénie de Montijo. Adults have a white head and a purplish-red patch on the breast, along with grey on the shoulders and olive-green and blue-tinged feathers. Juveniles look different, with green heads and the white limited to the forehead and upper throat, plus a smaller grey shoulder patch and a red breast area restricted to the center. The bird lives only on Makira and nearby islands in the Solomon Islands, mainly in lowland to hill forests and also some agricultural areas, where it is most common in foothills. While it is listed as least concern overall, it still faces threats from deforestation and habitat loss, even though it can sometimes live in disturbed areas. The white-headed fruit dove was first described in 1856 by John Gould as Iotreron eugeniae, then placed in the genus Ptilinopus by George Robert Gray. Its common name is the one officially used by the International Ornithologists’ Union, and it is also known as Eugénie’s fruit dove. Taxonomy is debated: some authors link it closely with the claret-breasted fruit dove, and a 2014 DNA study found it closely related to the lewisii population, while also placing both lineages within a wider genetic group of fruit doves. The white-headed fruit dove is a small fruit dove (18–22 cm) with a snowy white head and upper throat and an olive-green body. It has a rich purplish-red breast with a dark purple border, grey shoulder markings, and a maroon-to-yellow bill; males and females look similar, while juveniles have greener heads and less extensive white and red. It is often confused with the yellow-bibbed fruit dove, but that species’ males have a bright yellow breastband, and the white-headed species is also distinguishable by its white head and red breast patch. Its call is a soft two-note “hu..whoOo” repeated every 3–6 seconds, with the second note longer and more emphasized. The white-headed fruit dove is found only in the Solomon Islands, living in lowland, hill, and ridge forests as well as nearby farms, up to about 700 m. It is most common in foothills and seems to do well in disturbed areas, including secondary forest and gardens. It is usually seen alone or in pairs, but can form small groups at fruiting trees and join mixed-species flocks to feed. The dove eats fruit and berries, flies quickly and straight, and sometimes forages outside the forest; little is known about breeding except that a juvenile was seen in September. The IUCN lists it as least concern.