Amazing Luzon Bleeding-hearts
Luzon Bleeding-hearts are stocky birds with short legs, like all members of the pigeon family. Their peculiar name comes from the vibrant splash of red feathers in the centre of their breasts, which makes these birds look like they have been wounded. The red patch is slightly brighter in males and is used in courtship displays. Otherwise, Luzon Bleeding-hearts have iridescent grey feathers that can look green, blue or purple, with black bands on their wings, and a pale belly with a reddish tone.
These birds live in flocks and coo to each other to stay in contact. They forage in groups on the forest floor, searching the leaf litter for seeds, berries and insects. At night the flocks roost in low branches. This species is quite secretive and difficult to find.
Male Luzon Bleeding-hearts court females with cooing and displays. Females lay one or two eggs in a nest hidden among dense shrubbery. Both parents incubate the eggs, which hatch after 17 days. The newly-hatched young are tiny and helpless, with no feathers. At first the parents feed their young with ‘crop milk’, a substance high in protein and fat that is secreted by the lining of the digestive tract. Young Luzon Bleeding-hearts leave the nest after about two weeks but do not grow full adult plumage until they are three months old.