Photographing this roosting pair of Wompoo Fruit-Doves Ptilinopus magnificus was simply irresistible. Over the years, I have seen many asleep, but never so low to the ground.
They are large doves, reaching almost half-a-metre and are richly coloured, with white head, purple breast, green wings with a conspicuous yellow stripe and bright yellow undergarments.
Their call is deep and resonant, with human-like attributes; “wollack-woo”. They feed on a variety of rainforest fruits, which may be quite large in size and are eaten whole.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.
I’m not sure you got their best side Neil (!), but they are stunning birds and have a great call.
Their call is quite unusual. The first time I heard it I thought there was a grumpy Arab somewhere, “wuck-wuck wuck-uuumm”. They usually call back if you can mimic well.