Apart from the Glossy Starling the Black-naped Fruit Dove Ptilinopus melanospila is the most common strangling fig seed disperser on the islands off the coast of North West, North and East Borneo.
The importance of pigeons as dispers of fig seeds is that they fly very long distances between islands normally at night. The only other important long distance disperser of figs are Island Flying Foxes.
Although Black-naped Fruit Doves are relatively small their gape is wide enough to swallow Ficus drupacea figs whole. In the photo above this male dove has been feeding on the small fruit of Buchanania arborescens . Buchanania is a small tree in the Mango family Anarcardiacea which is common in coastal forest. Fruit Doves are very important dispersers of island figs.
Female Black-naped Fruit Doves are very well camouflaged.
Grey Imperial Pigeon Ducula pickeringii.
Grey Imperial Pigeons Ducula pickeringii are also very important dispersers of island figs. This large pigeon replaces the Green Imperial Pigeon on the small islands of East Borneo. The Grey Imperial Pigeon is probably the second most important disperser of fig seeds between small islands around north and east Borneo.
Illustrated above are two specialist pigeons of small islands which obviously mimic each other for reasons unknown. Above is Pied Imperial Pigeon Ducular bicolour which is a fig seed disperser. Below is the much rarer Silvery Pigeon Columba argentina which is believed to be a fig seed predator. As both these species are uncommon to rare they are unlikely to have a significant effect on island fig ecology at the present time.