Food of the Plumed Pigeons, Geophaps Plumifera and G. Ferruginea.

Abstract

The plumed pigeon, Geophaps plumifera, and the red plumed pigeon, G. ferruginea, are among the few birds that can live permanently in the arid spinifex grasslands of central, northern and western Australia. They are not found in sandy deserts and are most characteristic of hilly or mountainous places. They are strongly associated with spinifex, though not confined to it. The contents of the crops were analysed for 564 and 386 birds of the two species obtained over a wide area of Northern Territory and Western Australia. Food was almost entirely the seeds of drought-resistant grasses and herbs; animal and vegetative plant material occurred only in traces. Water derived from the food can have little value in body processes. Although the birds are closely associated with the spinifex grasses Triodia and Plectrachne, those were not important sources of food; in one area only was the seed eaten and it then provided about one-quarter of the annual food. Other aspects of the spinifex grassland appear to be more important in determining the birds' distribution than the food value of the spinifex.