Chestnut-quilled Rock Pigeon
Petrophassa rufipennis· 鸠鸽科(1 photos)
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Chestnut-quilled Rock Pigeon
28-32 cm. Plumage red-brown to dark brown, primaries mostly pale chestnut, forming a streak sometimes visible at rest, and noticeable wingpatch in flight. Juvenile: duller. Singles, pairs, parties that chase along ledges, preen and doze together. Feeds, drinks, at foot of escarpment: flies up to take refuge among rocks with clatter or musical loud whirr, stiff flips and tilting glides on flat wings.
- Similar Species
- White-quilled Rock-Pigeon.
- Voice
- low coos; loud 'coo-carook'. Alarm call: sharp, high-pitched single coo (Frith, 1982).
- Habitat
- sandstone escarpments, with gullies, gorges, tumbled rocks; eucalypts, figs, other softwoods, pockets of rainforest; nearby grassy woodlands.
- Breeding
- mostly dry season.
- Nest
- platform of sticks on ledge or crevice in rock-face; hollowed, lined with thick pad of spinifex, leaves, stems.
- Eggs
- 2; creamy white, elliptical, smooth, glossy.
- Range & Status
- w. Arnhem Land (NT), from c. Oenpelli s. to upper Katherine R., mostly in Kakadu NP. Locally common; sedentary.
