Yellow Breasted Fruit Dove

The yellow-breasted fruit dove (Ptilinopus occipitalis) locally known 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.

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

Taxonomy and systematics

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.^[3]

The species was formerly placed in the obsolete genus Leucotreron.^[3]

The species' generic name comes from the Ancient Greek ptilon (feather) and pous (foot), while the specific epithet occipitalis is from Latin, meaning "of the back of the head".^[4] Alternative names for the yellow-breasted fruit dove include sulphur-breasted fruit dove.^[5]

There are two recognised subspecies. However, they are recognised only on the basis on minor differences in size and plumage, and may be better treated as monotypic.^[3][6]

• P. o. occipitalis – Gray & Mitchell, 1844: The nominate subspecies, it is found in the north and central Philippines from southern Luzon to Negros, Bohol, and Leyte.
• P. o. incognitus – Tweeddale, 1877: It is found in the southeastern Philippines, in the mountains of Dinagat, Camiguin, Mindanao and Basilan. Birds from the Mindanao highlands have occasionally been separated as brevipes on the basis of differences in plumage.^[3][6]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ptilinopus occipitalis.

Cited text

• 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.