Ptilinopus superbus (Temminck, 1809)

Bishop, K. David, 2023, The avifauna of Biak Island, Papua, Indonesia with comments on status, conservation, natural history and taxonomy, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 143 (1), pp. 3-62 : 19

*SUPERB FRUIT DOVE Ptilinopus superbus

Range P. s. superbus Biak, Numfor, Yapen.

Status Resident. First recorded on Biak in December 1962 ( King 1979). Thereafter few records until the early 1990s when greater familiarity with the species’ vocalisations improved visitors’ ability to detect it. We recorded several on most visits. That this species has only recently been found on Biak and was not taken by any collectors suggests it may be a latter-day colonist, as this dove was obtained by early collectors such as A. A. Bruijn and O. Beccari on Numfor and Yapen ( Salvadori 1880 ‒82) and repeatedly recorded thereafter, especially on Yapen ( Diamond & Bishop 2020). The bird in Fig. 4 has a grey, rather than purplish, breast thereby confirming that the Biak population belongs with the nominate subspecies as expected.

Figures

Figure 4. Superb Fruit Dove Ptilinopus superbus, Biak, 8 September 2019 (© Ken Behrens)