Grey-green fruit dove

The grey-green fruit dove is endemic to the French Polynesian islands of Tahiti and Mo'orea. There is an estimated population of 2,500 to 10,000 mature individual birds on the two islands, of which 5,000 - 6,000 live on Mo'orea, at an estimated density of 2-3 birds per hectare.[2]

There are two subspecies:[3]

• P. p. frater Ripley & Birckhead, 1942 – Moorea Island. (e Society Is.)
• P. p. purpuratus (Gmelin, JF, 1789) – Tahiti (e Society Is.)

The Raiatea fruit-dove (P. chrysogaster) of Raiatea was formerly considered conspecific, but was split as a distinct species by the IOC in 2021.[4]

It is about 23 centimeters long and weighs about 95 grams. It is small and plump and has a short tail. The body is mostly green and the top of the head is light purple with gray. The neck and chest are gray and the belly is dull olive. There is a light gray band around the tail. The beak is yellowish or greenish yellow. The feet are purple. Young birds are darker in color than adults, and the top of their heads is not light purple. The rim of the big wing cover and the third wing feather is yellow.[5]

Live on a tree. It is hard to notice because it stays still for a long time in the canopy layer. Eat fruit.[6]

It is a native bird that lives in forests.[7]

They eat figs and a variety of native fruits ranging from 2 to 17mm in diameter. Small invertebrates in leaves and branches also eat.[8]

It lays one white egg at a time.

In 1907, the grey-green fruit dove was reportedly very abundant on the two islands. However the population has declined since then. There is an ongoing slow population decline due to habitat destruction, the introduction of non-native plants, predation by invasive species such as the swamp harrier and feral cats, and competition by invasive red-vented bulbul and common myna.[2]