Mariana Fruit Dove - Meet The Endangered
Mariana Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus roseicapilla)
The Mariana Islands are home to one of the most colorful of all bird species, the Mariana Fruit Dove, whose vivid technicolor plumage - evolved for tropical camouflage - gives it the nickname ‘flying rainbow’.
The diet of the Mariana Fruit Dove is made up of 95% fruit. It especially prefers the local wild figs and papaya. Like modern humans, the species typically lives in nuclear family units, generates one offspring at a time, and relies on both parents for parental investment.
The greatest threat to the Mariana Fruit Dove is the Brown Tree Snake (Boiga irregularis) - an invasive species that feasts upon the polychromatic bird. P. roseicapilla has already gone extinct at the southern end of its range, and the Brown Tree Snake is working its way northward, threatening the dove’s remaining redoubts. Conservation efforts focus on snake control and breeding the dove in captivity for eventual repopulation.
IUCN: Near Threatened (NT)
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