Doves | Birds of Fiji - Part 2

In my last post about the birdlife here in Fiji, I concentrated on the small and medium-sized birds that I have seen and photographed thus far. This post is dedicated to the doves (or pigeons, they are actually the same thing). There is a variety of beautiful doves that can be found here but some are incredibly hard to find and by no means have I seen them all.[pt_view id="6315d62igh"]In this post you will find the following doves:

• Barking Imperial Pigeon (Ducula latrans)
• Spotted dove (Streptopelia chinensis)
• Many-colored fruitdove (Ptilinopus peroussi)
• Pacific Imperial Pigeon (Ducula pacifica)
• White-throated pigeon (Columba vitiensis)
• Golden Dove (Chrysoena luteovirens)
• Feral Pigeon (Columba livia) 

 [su_row][su_column size="1/2" center="no" class=""][/su_column] [su_column size="1/2" center="no" class=""][/su_column][/su_row]In Germany, doves are regarded as pests by most people, and as far as I am aware we don't really have several species there. I love that here I Fiji, some doves are very elusive and particularly beautiful. The most common pigeon species we see around here is the Spotted Dove and the Feral pigeon. During our walks in Colo-i-Suva there are plenty of barking pigeons up in the trees. Their barking-sounding call is also one of the most dominant ones we hear in the rainforest and gave them their name.

Two dove species on Wakaya Island

Over the months I have visited the beautiful private Wakaya Island a few times, which is just about a 2-3 hour journey from Suva (first a car ride, and then a little more than one-hour boat ride past Ovalau island). It was only until my last visit there, that someone made me aware of a group of doves sitting in two distinct trees on the resort grounds. Upon closer inspection, the beautiful many-colored fruit doves revealed themselves. They were rather shy and didn't really like me coming too close, but eventually, I managed to snap a few great images of the male and female. Equipped with only my 70.200mm f/2.8, I hope to be back there with my 600mm some time soon. The other species I was able to photograph there was the Pacific Imperial Pigeon, that I haven't seen anywhere else thus far. 

The elusive Golden Dove

We have been able to see the golden dove twice thus far, only females though. It is an incredibly well-camouflaged bird with green feet, green feathers and a green beak! The male with its golden appearance gave this species its name and I would really love to get to see one, but no luck so far. We do know a spot where we keep hearing their calls, which sounds like a puppy barking.Edit May 2020: We finally came across a few golden dove males and currently do sight them quite frequently in certain spots of Colo-i-Suva. It must be mating season for the doves at the moment, as there is a lot of commotion in the trees and high abundances of barking pigeons chasing each other. A good time to be out birding!Female Golden Dove (Chrysoena luteovirens)I would appreciate any hints of spots or places where I can find other species. Any tips out there? Vinaka and enjoy your birdwatching!