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May 25, 2008
Wompoo Fruit Doves
Posted by neil, at 05:48 PM
Photographing this roosting pair of Wompoo Fruit-Doves Ptilinopus magnificus was simply irresistible. Over the years, I have seen many asleep, but never so low to the ground.
They are large doves, reaching almost half-a-metre and are richly coloured, with white head, purple breast, green wings with a conspicuous yellow stripe and bright yellow undergarments.
Their call is deep and resonant, with human-like attributes; "wollack-woo". They feed on a variety of rainforest fruits, which may be quite large in size and are eaten whole.
Posted by neil at May 25, 2008 05:48 PM
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Comments
I'm not sure you got their best side Neil (!), but they are stunning birds and have a great call.
Posted by: Libby at May 26, 2008 05:53 AM
Their call is quite unusual. The first time I heard it I thought there was a grumpy Arab somewhere, "wuck-wuck wuck-uuumm". They usually call back if you can mimic well.
Posted by: Ian Mott at May 26, 2008 09:16 AM