A Critically Endangered, secretive ground-dwelling dove endemic to Mindoro, Philippines, photographed in the wild for the first time in two decades, with only 50–249 mature individuals remaining and threatened by habitat loss, snaring and illegal wildlife trade.
News: Researchers captured the first confirmed photograph in the wild in two decades, after the species remained undocumented since 2005.
Key Features
- Family: Columbidae (pigeons and doves).
- Endemic to: Mindoro Island, Philippines.
- Named after the orange-red patch on its white chest, resembling a bleeding wound.
- Secretive, ground-dwelling bird that mainly forages on the forest floor.
Habitat
- Traditionally associated with lowland forests around 400 m elevation.
- A 2026 camera-trap record found it at over 900 m in the Iraya Mangyan ancestral domain.
- Higher elevation presence may indicate habitat compression rather than habitat expansion.
Conservation Status
- IUCN: Critically Endangered (CR).
- Estimated population: only 50–249 mature individuals.
- Listed under the Search for Lost Birds programme after being undocumented for years.
Major Threats
- Habitat loss → agriculture, logging and infrastructure.
- Snaring/poaching → accidental capture in forest-floor snares.
- Illegal wildlife trade → hunting and live capture.