Birds of the World
 - White-throated Ground Dove
 - White-throated Ground Dove
+2
 - White-throated Ground Dove
Watch
 - White-throated Ground Dove
Listen

White-throated Ground Dove Pampusana xanthonura Scientific name definitions

Luis F. Baptista, Pepper W. Trail, H. M. Horblit, David Christie, Guy M. Kirwan, Peter F. D. Boesman, and Ernest Garcia
Version: 1.1 — Published October 24, 2023
Revision Notes

Sign in to see your badges

Field Identification

25 cm; male 117–154 g, female 58–150 g. Shows strong sexual dimorphism in plumage. Male has crown, nape, hindneck and ear-coverts pale pinkish rufous; rest of head, neck and breast shield white with salmon-pink suffusion except along margin of breast shield; band of rich purple extends across upper back, dividing the pale hindneck from the dark bronzy olive upper­parts; lesser wing-coverts purple; median wing-coverts broadly tipped purple; underparts grayish black fringed dull rufous; tail dark brownish gray; iris brown; orbital skin yellowish white; bill black or dark brown; legs and feet purplish red. Female predominantly tawny brown below and bronzy olive above, with tawny rufous fringes to feathers; iris gray or brown; orbital skin gray; legs and feet purplish red; females with plumage like male's occur, apparently rarely. Juvenile appears predominantly bright rufous due to extensive feather fringes. Young males have broader and richer rufous tips to feathers than young females.

Systematics History

Closely related to the White-bibbed Ground Dove (Pampusana jobiensis), Caroline Islands Ground Dove (Pampusana kubaryi) and Polynesian Ground Dove (Pampusana erythroptera); this group also has somewhat more distant affinities with the Santa Cruz Ground Dove (Pampusana sanctaecrucis), Shy Ground Dove (Pampusana stairi) and Thick-billed Ground Dove (Pampusana salamonis). In the past, the Caroline Islands Ground Dove was listed as a subspecies of present species. Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

Northern Mariana Islands on Asuncion, Pagan, Alamagan, Saipan, Tinian, Agiguan and Rota (probably extirpated from Guam (1) ); also Yap Island, in Caroline Islands.

Habitat

Occurs in all types of forested habitat, and seems to be equally at home in native forest and secondary or agricultural forest; however, unlike many other native birds, does not seem to have adapted readily to introduced Leucaena forest in Marianas. On Yap, sometimes found near residential areas.

Movement

In Marianas, frequently makes long, solitary flights above the canopy, unusual behaviour for the genus; flies with deep, laboured wingbeats, but covers great distances; it has been suggested that these long flights indicate widely separated feeding grounds. On Yap, apparently does not make long flights above canopy.

Diet and Foraging

Primarily frugivorous, but also eats seeds and flowers, and occasionally leaves. Reported food plants include: fruits of Aglaia (Meliaceae), Ficus (Moraceae), Guettarda (Rubiaceae), Momordica (Cucurbitaceae), Premna (Verbenaceae), Scaevola (Goodeniaceae) and papaya (Carica, Caricaceae); seeds of Glochidion (Euphorbiaceae), Tournefortia (Boraginaceae) and Passiflora (Passifloriaceae); flowers of Tournefortia and Premna; and leaves of Cestrum (Solanaceae) and Pandanus (Pandanaceae). Unlike most Gallicolumba, in Marianas present species feeds primarily in bushes and trees, not on the ground , and birds on Guam were only very rarely seen on ground, usually feeding c. 1 m up in trees and bushes; Yap population apparently forages largely on the ground.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Advertising call is a repeated, single, mournful hoot lasting c. 1 second on an almost even pitch, “whooooh...whoooh...”. Also utters a grating snarl lasting c. 1.5 seconds “rrreeh”.

Breeding

Nests reported from Guam in January–March, May and August; recently fledged males, and courtship and mating, in September and November; males with enlarged gonads in April–July; based on this evidence, breeding probably occurs all year round at least on Guam. Nests reported from 1.5 m to much higher in large, occasionally isolated, trees; both adults observed nest building. One clutch of two eggs was reported at a nest on Guam, attended only by female; however, another nest on Guam apparently only attended by male.

Not globally threatened. Currently considered Near Threatened. Uncommon to rare in the Northern Marianas, the largest population being on Rota; the total population on Rota was estimated to be 2,400 birds in 1982 but numbers have since declined as a result of predation by the invasive Brown Tree Snake (Boiga irregularis); it was described as numerous in these islands in 1945, when a small population was present on Tinian. Exterminated on Guam as a result of predation by the introduced Brown Tree Snake; it was fairly common there too in 1945, when roadside surveys recorded it during 31% of 125 such counts; described as common on the island in 1900 and 1931. It is fairly common on Saipan where up to 72 birds/km2 were recorded in forest on limestone in 1991–1993 (2). Rare on Yap, where total population was estimated at c. 195 birds in 1984 (2). Numbers increased on Aguiguan between 1982 and 2008, to an estimated 548 birds in 2008 (3). Species is secretive, and easily overlooked on surveys. The species does not seem to be threatened by the low levels of hunting it experiences; also, being able to adapt to secondary habitats, it does not appear to be threatened in short term by habitat loss.

Distribution of the White-throated Ground-Dove - Range Map
Enlarge
  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the White-throated Ground-Dove

Recommended Citation

Baptista, L. F., P. W. Trail, H. M. Horblit, D. A. Christie, G. M. Kirwan, P. F. D. Boesman, and E. Garcia (2023). White-throated Ground Dove (Pampusana xanthonura), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.wtgdov1.01.1
Birds of the World

Partnerships

A global alliance of nature organizations working to document the natural history of all bird species at an unprecedented scale.