Yellow-breasted fruit dove

Yellow-breasted fruit dove
Nominate subspecies
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Columbiformes
Family:	Columbidae
Genus:	Ramphiculus
Species:	R. occipitalis
Binomial name
Ramphiculus occipitalis (G. R. Gray, 1844)
Synonyms
Ptilinopus occipitalis

The yellow-breasted fruit dove (Ramphiculus occipitalis), known locally as balorinay, is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forest. While it is listed as least concern in IUCN, it is declining due to habitat loss, hunting, and trapping for the illegal wildlife trade. This species was formerly placed in the genus Ptilinopus .

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

Taxonomy

The yellow-breasted fruit dove was formally described in 1844 by the English zoologist George Gray under the binomial name Ptilopus occipitalis. ^[3] The type locality is the island of Luzon in the Philippines. ^[4] The specific epithet occipitalis is from Latin, meaning "of the back of the head". ^[5] The yellow-breasted fruit dove was formerly placed in the genus Ptilinopus . A molecular genetic study published in 2014 found that the fruit dove genus Ptilinopus was paraphyletic. ^[6] In a move towards creating monophyletic genera, nine species including the yellow-breasted fruit dove were moved from Ptilinopus to Ramphiculus . ^[7] Alternative names for the yellow-breasted fruit dove include sulphur-breasted fruit dove. ^[8]

Two subspecies are recognised. ^[7] They are recognised only on the basis on minor differences in size and plumage, and may be better treated as monotypic. ^{[9] [10]}

• R. o. occipitalis (Gray, GR, 1844) – lowland forest of northern and central Philippines
• R. o. incognitus (Tweeddale, A, 1877) – mountains of Mindanao (southeastern Philippines)

Description

A wild ssp. occipitalis

EBird describes the bird as "A medium-sized dove of lowland and mid-elevation forest canopy. Distinguished by green upperparts, tail, thighs, and sides, gray crown and sides to the neck, yellow breast, maroon patch on the belly, and maroon stripe from the eye around the back of the head. Similar to Flame-breasted Fruit-Dove, but has a yellow rather than orange chest and pale gray in front of the eyes. Song is a deep, downslurred "woo-oo." ^[11]

It is locally known as siete colores, which means 7 colors and has been nicknamed by birdwatchers as sapin-sapin, which is a multicolored Filipino desert.

The yellow-breasted fruit dove is one of over 50 species in the genus Ptilinopus. Within the genus, it is most closely allied to the red-eared fruit dove and the Lompobattang fruit dove. ^[9]

Ecology and behavior

It is a frugivore.The Philippine green pigeon usually occurs singly or in small groups with other doves to feed on fruiting trees. 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. ^[12]

Habitat and conservation status

Its natural habitat is moist tropical primary lowland forest up to 1,800 meters above sea level.

The IUCN has classified the species as being of least concern but the population is believed to be declining due 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. ^[13]

References

1. BirdLife International (2018). "Yellow-breasted Fruit-dove: Ptilinopus occipitalis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018 e.T22691327A130178054. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22691327A130178054.en . Retrieved 11 April 2021.
2. 11th Congress. "Republic Act No. 9147". Official Gazette of the Philippines.
3. Gray, George Robert (1844). The genera of birds : comprising their generic characters, a notice of the habits of each genus, and an extensive list of species referred to their several genera. Vol. 3. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. [467] Plate 118. The title page has 1849. For the publication date see Bruce, Murray D. (2023). "The Genera of Birds (1844–1849) by George Robert Gray: A review of its part publication, dates, new nominal taxa, suppressed content and other details". Sherbornia. 8 (1): 1–93 [18].
4. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1937). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 3. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 25.
5. Jobling, James A. (2010). Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. Christopher Helm. pp. 278, 322. ISBN   978-1-4081-3326-2.
6. Cibois, A.; Thibault, J.-C.; Bonillo, C.; Filardi, C.E.; Watling, D.; Pasquet, E. (2014). "Phylogeny and biogeography of the fruit doves (Aves: Columbidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 70: 442–453. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2013.08.019.
7. AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". doi: 10.2173/avilist.v2025 . Retrieved 4 November 2025.
8. Gibbs & Barnes 2010, p. 463.
9. Baptista, Luis F.; Trail, Pepper W.; Horblit, H. M.; Boesman, Peter F. D.; Garcia, Ernest (2020-03-04). "Yellow-breasted Fruit-Dove (Ptilinopus occipitalis)". Birds of the World.
10. Gibbs & Barnes 2010, p. 464.
11. "Plain Bush-hen - eBird". ebird.org. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
12. Baptista, Luis F.; Trail, Pepper W.; Horblit, H. M.; Boesman, Peter F. D.; Garcia, Ernest (2020). "Yellow-breasted Fruit-Dove (Ptilinopus occipitalis), version 1.0" . Birds of the World. doi:10.2173/bow.ybfdov2.01. ISSN   2771-3105.
13. IUCN (2018-08-06). Ramphiculus occipitalis: BirdLife International: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22691327A130178054 (Report). International Union for Conservation of Nature. doi:10.2305/iucn.uk.2018-2.rlts.t22691327a130178054.en.

Cited source

• 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.