Cream-breasted fruit dove

Cream-breasted fruit dove
Cream-breasted Fruit Dove merilli seen in the wild in South Sierra Madre.
A stamp of the merilli sub-species
Conservation status
Near Threatened  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Columbiformes
Family:	Columbidae
Genus:	Ptilinopus
Species:	P. merrilli
Binomial name
Ptilinopus merrilli (McGregor, 1916)
Synonyms
Cream-bellied Fruit Dove

The cream-breasted fruit dove (Ptilinopus merrilli) or cream-bellied fruit dove is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is a large and primarily greenish dove with a distinctive red wing patch and cream coloured breast which it was named after. It is endemic to the Philippines found only on the islands of Luzon, Catanduanes and Polillo Islands. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland to montane forests of up to 1,300 masl. It is threatened by habitat loss, and trapping for the pet trade.

It is illegal to hunt, capture or keep cream-breasted fruit-doves under Philippine Law RA 9147.^[2]

Described on Ebird as "A fairly large dove of lowland and low-elevation montane forest. Has green upperparts to the back of the neck, a gray head and chest, a creamy belly, and white under the base of the tail, scalloped green. Note the purple spot across the flight feathers. The race from northern Luzon has a dark red crown. Similar to Black-chinned Fruit-Dove, but Cream-breasted has a narrow chest band and a cream rather than green belly. Song is a drawn-out, deep quavering “brrrrrrr.”^[3] This species does not exhibit sexual dimorphism.

The cream-breasted fruit dove is one of over 50 species in the genus Ptilinopus. Within the genus, it is most closely allied with the flame-breasted fruit dove.^[4]

It was formerly placed in the obsolete genus Leucotreron.^[4] The species' generic name comes from the Greek ptilon (feather) and pous (foot), while the specific epithet is in honor of Elmer Drew Merrill, an American botanist.^[5] Alternative names for the cream-breasted fruit dove include Merrill's fruit dove.^[6]

• P. m. merrilli – MacGregor, 1916: The nominate subspecies, found in southern Luzon from the southern part of the Sierra Madres down to Bicol and Catanduanes region
• P. m. faustinoi – Manuel, 1936: Found in the mountains of northern Luzon starting from Quirino. Has a red crown patch and a whiter chin.^[4][7]

It is a frugivore. Usually occurs singly or in small groups even with other doves. Its flight is fast and direct, with the regular beats and an occasional sharp flick of the wings that are characteristic of pigeons in general.

Breeding mainly occurs in May to June, which is generally the breeding time for Philippine forest birds. Nests have been found with a single egg, but there is not enough data to assume average clutch size ^[8]

Its natural habitat is moist tropical primary forest up to 1,300 meters above sea level.

The IUCN has classified this species as near-threatened with the population on the declinedue to deforestation from land conversion, Illegal logging and slash-and-burn farming. This species also experiences hunting pressure for both meat and the pet trade. Birds of the World believe that this species should be uplisted to vulnerable as it has always been considered uncommon even in 1946 and has a fairly limited range despite being found across Luzon. More studies and surveys are recommended to better understand its biology, population and conservation status.

It is found in multiple protected areas such as Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park, Bulusan Volcano Natural Park, Mount Banahaw, Aurora Memorial National Park and Kalbario–Patapat Natural Park but despite this legal protection, deforestation and hunting continues even within these areas. ^[4][3]

• Gibbs, David; Barnes, Eustace (2010). Pigeons and Doves: A Guide to Pigeons and Doves of the World. Christopher Helm. ISBN 978-1-4081-3555-6.