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| Red-moustached Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus mercierii mercierii) |
| syn. Kurukuru mercierii |
| distribution: Marquesas: Nuku Hiva |
| native name: Kuku peti - Marquesas |
| size: ca. 22 cm
(length) extinction date: ca. 1900 |
| The reasons for the
extinction of this species are almost completely unknown, above all when
the survival of the other marquesan fruit-dove species, the White-capped
Fruit-Dove (Ptilinopus dupetithouarsii), is considered, which is
still fairly common on most islands in the marquesan Archipelago. The nominate race, which once occured on the island of Nuku Hiva, was extinct by around 1900. Only a single specimen of the nominate race does still exist today. |
 left:Red-moustached Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus mercierii mercierii) depiction: Alexander Lang |
| Hiva Oa Red-moustached
Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus mercierii tristrami) |
| syn. Ptilinopus tristrami |
| distribution: Marquesas: Fatu Hiva (?), Hiva Oa, Tahuata (?) |
| native name:
Kuku peti - Marquesas |
| size: ca. 22 cm
(length) extinction date: ca. 1922 |
| The introduction of the
Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) to the marquesan island is
occasionally blamed for the extinction of this suspecies. In fact this owl species was imported only in the year 1927, but only to the island of Hiva Oa, where it is now quite common in the higher elevations. |
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| above: Hiva Oa Red-moustached Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus mercierii tristrami) Photo: Alexander Lang |
| References: - Dieter Luther: Die ausgestorbenen Vögel der Welt. Westarp Wissenschaften 1986 - H. Douglas Pratt, Phillip L. Bruner, Delwyn G. Berrett: A Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific. Princeton University Press 1987 - Errol Fuller: Extinct Birds. Penguin Books (England) 1987 - David Gibbs, Eustace Barnes, John Cox: Pigeons and Doves, A Guide to the Pigeons and Doves of the World. Pica Press, Sussex 2001 |