Green Imperial-Pigeon

Green Imperial-Pigeon

Ducula aenea

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCNTNear ThreatenedVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~40% · Likely
at Minneriya National Park

In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%

296 Verified sightings at Minneriya National Park From 2019 to 2026
9,781 In all 24 parks
March Best month
🌅 Crepuscular When it's spotted

About the Green Imperial-Pigeon

The green imperial pigeon (Ducula aenea) is a large forest pigeon. The large range extends from Nepal, southern India and Sri Lanka eastwards to southern China, Indonesia and the Philippines. In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the green imperial pigeon in his six volume Ornithologie. He used the French name Le pigeon ramier des Moluques and the Latin Palumbus moluccensis. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the green imperial pigeon which he placed with all the other pigeons in the genus Columba. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Columba aenea and cited Brisson's work. Brisson believed his specimen had come from the Maluku Islands but the species does not occur there and in 1918 the type locality was designated as the island of Flores in Indonesia. The specific name aenea is from the... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song0:12

Malaysia · 2026

© Lim Ying Hien 林勇贤 · XC1159755 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Call1:22

Indonesia · 2025

© Richard E. Webster · XC1075681 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:26

India · 2025

© Lim Ying Hien · XC991690 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~80%
2 Tangkoko Nature Reserve 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~80%
3 Komodo National Park 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~70%
4 Wilpattu National Park 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~60%
5 Sinharaja Forest Reserve 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~60%
6 Udawalawe National Park 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~60%
7 Yala National Park 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~60%
8 Danum Valley Conservation Area 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~50%
9 Tanjung Puting National Park 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~50%
10 Minneriya National Park 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~40%
11 Manas National Park 🇮🇳 India
~40%
12 Kaziranga National Park 🇮🇳 India
~40%
13 Way Kambas National Park 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~30%
14 Sepilok 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~30%
15 Nagarhole National Park 🇮🇳 India
~20%
16 Cat Tien National Park 🇻🇳 Vietnam
~10%
17 Bali Barat National Park 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~10%
18 Royal Manas National Park 🇧🇹 Bhutan
<5%
19 Periyar National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
20 Bandipur National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
21 Taman Negara National Park 🇲🇾 Malaysia
<5%
22 Horton Plains National Park 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
<5%
23 Kerinci Seblat National Park 🇮🇩 Indonesia
<5%
24 Kinabalu Park 🇲🇾 Malaysia
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~40%
2 Thrissur 🇮🇳 India
~10%
3 Kochi 🇮🇳 India
<5%
4 Singapore 🇸🇬 Singapore
<5%
5 Ponnani 🇮🇳 India
<5%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 San Diego Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
2 Zoo Pilsen 🇨🇿 Czechia In captivity
3 Parc des oiseaux 🇫🇷 France In captivity
4 Zoo Miami 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
5 San Diego Zoo Safari Park 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
6 Fonghuanggu Bird and Ecology Park 🇹🇼 Taiwan In captivity
7 Moody Gardens 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
8 Lok Kawi Wildlife Park 🇲🇾 Malaysia In captivity
9 Ninoy Aquino Parks & Wildlife Center 🇵🇭 Philippines In captivity
10 Attica Zoological Park 🇬🇷 Greece In captivity
11 Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
12 Rainforest Wild Asia 🇸🇬 Singapore In captivity
13 Rio de Janeiro Zoological Garden 🇧🇷 Brazil In captivity
14 Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens 🇨🇳 China In captivity
15 Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center 🇵🇭 Philippines In captivity
16 Johor Zoo 🇲🇾 Malaysia In captivity
17 Penang Bird Park 🇲🇾 Malaysia In captivity
18 Nature's Harvest Organic Farm and Leisure Getaway 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR China In captivity
19 SEA LIFE Orlando Aquarium 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
20 Aviary 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR China In captivity
21 Carolina Raptor Center 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
22 Aquaria KLCC 🇲🇾 Malaysia In captivity
23 Kung Fu Corals 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
24 Ocean Park Hong Kong 🇨🇳 China In captivity
25 ResQue Ranch Inc. 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
26 Singapore Miniature Zoo 🇸🇬 Singapore In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Green Imperial-Pigeon in Minneriya National Park?

Likely

About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Green Imperial-Pigeon sighting in Minneriya National Park on a given day, based on 296 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 17th most-seen of the 155 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Green Imperial-Pigeon in Minneriya National Park?

March and December

In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Green Imperial-Pigeon in Minneriya National Park on a given day, against about 20% in August, the lowest month.

What time of day is best to see a Green Imperial-Pigeon?

Between midnight and 3 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Green Imperial-Pigeon sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.

Which relatives of the Green Imperial-Pigeon live in Minneriya National Park?

Same family: Columbidae

The closest relatives of the Green Imperial-Pigeon that you can see in Minneriya National Park (family Columbidae, Pigeons and Doves) are Pearl-necked Dove (about 70%), Sri Lanka Green-Pigeon (about 40%) and Orange-breasted Green-Pigeon (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Green Imperial-Pigeon sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Green Imperial-Pigeon is recorded against all the birds logged in Minneriya National Park (296 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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