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Contribution to the Knowledge of the New Caledonian Imperial Pigeon Ducula Goliath (Gray 1 859) with Emphasis on Sexual Dimorphism

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Contribution to the Knowledge of the New Caledonian Imperial Pigeon Ducula Goliath (Gray 1 859) with Emphasis on Sexual Dimorphism Notornis, 2003, Vol. 50: 155-160 0029-4470 O The Ornithological Society of New Zealand, Inc. 2003 Contribution to the knowledge of the New Caledonian imperial pigeon Ducula goliath (Gray 1 859) with emphasis on sexual dimorphism NICOLAS BARRE Institut Agronomique neo-Caledonien, BP 25, 98 890 Pai'ta, New-Caledonia barret3iac.n~ MICHEL DE GARINE WICHATITSKY Institut Agronomique neo-Caledonien, BP 25,98 890 Pai'ta, New-Caledonia RONAN LECOQ CIRAD-EMVT Campus International de Baillarguet, TA30/G, 34 398 Montpellier, France JEAN-CHARLES MAILLARD CIRAD-EMVT Campus International de Baillarguet, TA30/G, 34 398 Montpellier, France Abstract Hunters of the endemic imperial pigeon (Ducula goliath) or notou in the For@tPlate site, New Caledonia, in Apr 2001 and Mar 2002, allowed us to collect some biological material, measurements and de~~criptionsfrom 63 pigeons. The sample included 5 immature imperial pigeons, and 58 adults. Several measurements of adult birds differed significantly between the sexes: weight, body length, wing length, tail length, tarsus length, and head length and width being greater in males (n = 28) than females (n = 30). A cross-validated classification using a discriminant function analysis on these variables allowed 74 % of the birds to be correctly classified as male or female. None of We qualitative characters (colour of skin, bill, iris, feet, feathers) was different between the sexes. Sexing birds using a bio-molecular analysis proved to be 100% reliable. The small gonads and the thin wall of the midgut indicated that the notou were not breeding at the time of collection. They had completed, or almost so, their wing moult. Fruits of 22 tree species and the leaves of trees and ferns were identified in material taken from digestive tracts. No internal parasites and few external parasites - of a low pathogenicity - were recorded. These results improve lmowledge of this endemic species and should be useful in this popular game bird's conservation and management. Barre, N.; Wichatitsky, M. de G.; Lecoq, R.; Maillard, J.-C. 2003. Contribution to the knowledge of the New Caledonian imperial pigeon Ducula goliath (Gray, 1859), with emphasis on sexual dimorphism. Notornis 50(3): 155-160. Keywords New Caledonia; imperial pigeon; notou; Ducula goliath, sex; biometry; foods INTRODUCTION Vanuatu; and D. goliath, known locally as notou, The genus Ducula includes 36 species distributed New Caledonia. According to Salvadori (1893), the from the Himalayas to Polynesia, but the greatest D. goliath type is an adult - preserved in the The diversity occurs in New Guinea, with only 2 and 1 Natural History Museum (formerly British species in Asia and Australia, respectively (Gibbs Museum (Natural History) -which was collected et al. 2001). These large to very large pigeons at the Isle of Pines (to the south of Grande Terre, (300-1000 g) are arboreal and frugivorous, and New Caledonia). It was described under the name their dominant plumage colours are grey, pink, Carpophaga (Phaenorhina) goliath, the subgeneric and maroon. Whereas true pigeons (Columba spp.) division being determined by the entirely exposed and the New Zealand Hemiphaga have 12 tail feath- openings of the nostrils (Gray 1859). The notou is ers, Ducula spp. have 14 (Goodwin 1967). Four currently categorised as "near threatened" by the Ducula allospecies of Melanesia, called the brench- IUCN (BirdLife International 2000), but it was leyi species group by Goodwin (1960), exhibit found to be "common" or "fairly common" in the strong affinities (Salvadori 1893; Gibbs et al. 2001): humid forests of Grande Terre, New Caledonia by D. latrans, Fiji; D. brenchleyi, Solomons; D. bakeri, Ekstrom et al. (2002). The descriptions of D. goliath given by Goodwin Received 28 September 2002; accepted 17 April 2003 (1967) and Gibbs et al. (2001) stateld that, as for all 156 Barre et al. Table 1Measurements (weight, g; dimensions, mm) for 28 male and 30 female New Caledonian imperial pigeons Ducula goliath from Forst Plate, New Caledonia. Bill (n-t) or nalospi: from bill tip to nostril; bill width and depth at the nostril; inner-outer toe : size difference between toes; testes (n = 28); ovocyte, dia. of largest; NS, not significant at P = 0.05. Males Females Significance Mean SD Min Max Mean SD Min Max P; t-test Weight Body length Wing length Tail length Wing span Head length Head width Bill length Bill (n-t) Bill width Bill depth Tarsus length Middle claw Inner-outer toe Testes (L) Ovocyte Ducula spp. except D. carola, the sexes are alike. tarsus length; inner/outer toe size difference Taking the opportunity to make observations and (FrPmaux 1998); median toe and claw length; measurements of imperial pigeons shot by head length; head width; bill length; nallopsis hunters, we tried to discriminate the sexes using (from nostril to tip) length; bill width; and bill phenotypic characters and measurements. Foods thickness at the nostrils. The colours of the feet, in their digestive tracts were identified and the the base and tip of bill, and the eye rings and iris parasites of these pigeons were collected and were recorded. The intensity and extent of the analysed. Considering the scarcity of data on brownish-red colour on the abdomen, on the inner notou in the literature, the information we present webs of tail feathers, and on the undertail coverts may contribute to the conservation of this were recorded, as was the abundance of bifurcated endemic but popular game bird. dark-grey feathers on the breast and neck. The state of moulting of the remiges was noted. MATERIAL AND METHODS Feathers were examined in the field and Hunting laboratory for ectoparasites. The official hunting season of notou is during the weekends in Apr, with a quota of 5 birds hunter-1 Autopsy day-1 (Dkliberation Territoriale, Feb, 25, 1982 ; Fruits were removed from the mouth, crop, and Boulet, 1995). For6t Plate is in the central intestine and placed separately in 3 jars. The crop mountains of the main island (Grande Terre) of was carefully examined for wall thickness and New Caledonia, in the municipality of Pouembout. secretions that could indicate that the bird was Hunting of notou was not permitted in For@tPlate feeding a chick (Gibbs et al. 2001). The digestive from 1998 to 2000, but 9 hunters were allowed to tract was retained for parasitological investigation hunt it for a single day (22 Apr 2001), with a limit in the laboratory. The state of fatness was recorded, of 3 or 4 birds hunter-1. Hunting started at 0700 h ranking from 1 (not/not very fat) to 3 (very fat) (local time) and ended when the quota of birds had based on the amount of fat deposited in the been collected. To check whether an earlier hunt- abdomen. A small piece of flesh and skin was ing period, fitting more precisely with that of the removed and preserved in 70 % ethanol for Melanesian "yam feast" during which notou are bio-molecular investigations. We collected both killed traditionally, would coincide with the notou testes or the ovary; the testes and the largest ovum breeding season, hunting was again permitted the were measured. next year, 1 month earlier (16 Mar 2002). In the laboratory, material in the cloaca was examined under a microscope (250 x) for helminth Measurements eggs and protozoa. The digestive tract was opened, Immediately after being shot, pigeons were the contents flushed with water through a 125 p - weighed and the following dimensions measured: mesh filter, and the remains examined under a body length; wing length; wingspan; tail length; stereomicroscope for parasitic worms. New Caledonian imperial pigeon 157 Foods collected during 0700 - 1100 h; 31 in Apr 2000,32 in Fruits and leaves were identified to the species Mar 2002, with a mean of 2 h to collect a bird. level whenever possible. Fruits were also measured, and their contribution to the diet Age ratio calculated by volume. In total, 58 of the pigeons had the adult colouration of plumage, bill, eyes and feet (Gray 1859; Gibbs et Bio-molecular sexing al. 2001). The other 5 pigeons (Id, 49Q 9 Q) were The accuracy of a bio-molecular method for sexing much lighter (500 - 570 g, as against 630 g for the this pigeon was tested. Based on the recognition of next lightest bird), and had a duller plumage than the genes coding for the chromo-helicase DNA the other birds. Their mean rank of fat deposit (1.4) binding protein (CHD) (Ellegren 1996), which have was also significantly lower than for adults (2.3). different size on the sexual chromosomes These 5 birds were considered to be immature. (CHDIW, 470 bases; CHDIZ, 680 bases), the procedure described by Fridolfson & Ellegren Sex ratio, sexually distinguishing, criteria (1999) was followed to determine the sex of the 31 None of the hunters- was- able to discriminate males pigeons collected in Apr 2001. DNA was extracted from females by behavioural or morphological in the laboratory from 25 mg of flesh and skin, traits. Based on autopsy results, 29 males and 34 using a Qiagen R extraction kit (Dneasy TM Tissue females (1.17 female/male) were s:hot. Bio-molecu- Kit 50). Using the primers 2550 F and 2718 R, PCR lar analyses confirmed the sexual classification of amplification was performed using a thermal all individuals. Table 1 shows the mean measure- cycler (Perkin-Elmer 9700 0) and Taq polymerase ments on the 58 birds in adult plumage (28 u@,30 (Qiagen 0). PCR products were migrated on 2% 99). Half of the traits differed significantly agarose gel (NuSieve GTG 0) for 2 h (100 V). The between the sexes. Males were heavier and larger presence of 2 bands on the agarose gel indicates a (body length, wing length, tail length, tarsus female, and 1 band a male.
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