Black Imperial Pigeon (Ducula melanochroa)
About the Black Imperial Pigeon
The black imperial pigeon (Ducula melanochroa), also known as the Bismarck imperial pigeon, is a species of bird in the pigeon family, Columbidae. First described by English zoologist Philip Sclater in 1878, it is endemic to the Bismarck Archipelago, where it mainly inhabits rainforest and cloud forest in mountain areas above 500 m (1,600 ft). It is a large, heavily built imperial pigeon, with a length of 38–43 cm (15–17 in) and a weight of 661–665 g (23.3–23.5 oz). Adults are almost entirely black, except for the dark chestnut undertail coverts, the silvery-grey underside of the tail, and a pale grey scaly pattern on the wings and back. Both sexes look alike. Juveniles differ from adults in having paler undertail coverts.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 2 recordings for this species: 2 CC BY-NC-SA. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in Papua New Guinea in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Related species you can hear
- Green Imperial PigeonDucula aenearecording
- Timor Imperial PigeonDucula cineracearecording
This species has no recording here yet — these relatives do, so you can hear what the family sounds like.