Sketching and Painting the Christmas Island Imperial Pigeon

Ducula whartoni: A Pigeon that goes Moo on Christmas Island

Hello! This post (and a few others) will be about sketching and painting on Christmas Island.

I’d been lucky enough to be on Christmas Island from September 2020 - March 2021.

It is somewhere Scott and I were planning to go to at the end of 2020 when we were thinking roughly about our 'plans' for 2020. We thought we would be in Indonesia for most of the year, and make our way here to Christmas Island through either Jakarta or Kuala Lumpur.

Of course COVID threw everyone’s plans out the window, and we returned to Perth in Australia. We were very lucky in that WA and the Indian Ocean Territories were very successful in keeping COVID out of the community, and in July 2020, the borders between the territories and WA reopened, making our travel there possible.

The initial attractions for going to Christmas Island were of course the iconic red crab migration, whale sharks, and in my case a desire to learn more about and see a place I believe my great-grandfather was posted to in 1941.

An amazing array of endemic (and non-endemic) species

What I did not expect when I came here was the sheer number of interesting, wonderful, weird, unique and stunning species that live on Christmas Island.

Having done a bit of research, I was aware of the Golden Bosun (an endemic gold/light yellow coloured subspecies of Tropic bird). Scott was also keen to see some red-footed boobies (not unique to the island but very cool birds).

The sheer number of other interesting and endemic species on the island really surprised me.

These include the Imperial pigeon, the Christmas Island Goshawk, an endemic Owl (we didn't see it on our trip), the Abbott’s booby (a booby that only nests on Christmas Island and is endangered), two critically endangered lizards: the Blue-tailed skink and the Lister’s Gecko, and a ridiculous array of crabs of just about every size and colour you can think of.

It is a nature-lover's paradise, and just a wonderfully unique place to be.

Christmas Island Imperial Pigeon

I'll post a bit about other creatures I learned a bit about, and sketched and painted too, but, I have a particular soft-spot in my heart for the Christmas Island Imperial Pigeon, and so this is the first of this series of posts.

Unlike the usual pigeons I’d seen on the mainland and in so many parts of the world, its colouring is a spectacular array of dark blues and greens, with the breast sometimes being a lovely shade of dusky ‘potter’s pink’ (yes! I’ve started thinking of colour in terms of my watercolour pigments!).

Apart from its stunning colouring though, what’s really surprising about this bird is its call. It makes an odd, almost disconcerting booming sound when you first hear it, which I think sounds like a cow, but Scott thinks sounds like an owl – either way, very odd!

I’ve since learned that the call isn’t as unique to the Christmas Island Imperial pigeon – apparently other Imperial pigeons make a similar booming sound. For that reason alone, I’ve fallen in love with these birds.

Back to Christmas Island though, and the pigeons are literally everywhere – you hear them in the township, and walking through the forest.

There is usually a flock of them around Territory Day Park, which is where we’ve been able to get some good photos of them.

First quick sketch/illustration after seeing a pair near the Christmas Island library.

A couple of days after seeing and hearing my first imperial pigeons, I did a simple sketch of them (above). The pair I'd seen were in the dark, and so the iridescence of their feathers didn't stand out.

Once I'd seen them in sunlight, I had to try another sketch or painting. I’d also bought some iridescent watercolours (the Jean Haines Daniel Smith set) to be able to better capture the colours of the pigeon, the emerald dove (another lovely Christmas Island bird) and the skinks and possibly some fish.

That said, I painted this without the shimmery watercolours, and I have to say I’m pretty pleased with the result.

I’ll still likely paint it again with the shimmers at some point so see what the difference in the result is but for now, I am happy with the luminosity of the tail feathers.

A fun play with Turquoise, olives, and iridescent blue-greens

After the pencil sketch, I went in with the tail feathers first because, well I was most inspired by those colours! I then went in to the darker areas before moving my way back towards the greens and blues in the middle. It took a few layers to achieve this particular result.

Christmas Island Imperial Pigeon (Ducula whartoni)

Christmas Island Imperial Pigeon (Titled: Moo) and Emerald Dove (Titled: Can I go back to foraging now), available at Eco Crab. P.s. that little plastic table is made entirely out of recycled plastic by Eco Crab Industries on Christmas Island.

To achieve the colours, I mixed Ultramarine PB29 (Mission Gold) and Quinacridone orange PO48 (Daniel Smith) to get a lovely range of darks. For the blues and greens, it was a combination of the PB16 Helio turquoise (Schmincke), Pthalo green yellow shade PG36 (Mission Gold), Green Gold PY150 (Mission Gold), Pure Yellow PY154 (Schmincke) and Permanent Yellow Deep PY65 (Mission Gold). I also used a bit of Buff Titanium PW6:1 (Daniel Smith) and Delft Blue PB60 (Schmincke).

The hero and colour that really gave it the effect I wanted was the Helio Turquoise PB16 - such a gorgeous colour!

Look out for these birds if you head to Christmas Island

If you're ever on Christmas Island, you won’t miss these birds – do keep an eye and an ear out for them. If you hear something that sounds like a cow, it is probably an Imperial pigeon :D

Also, see if you can get a glimpse of their feathers in the sun. It wasn’t until their feathers were seen in full light that I was truly struck.

I really love the sounds they make, and waking up to that ‘moo’ or ‘woo’ sound was one of the highlights of Christmas Island for me. I'll definitely be keeping a look out for other species of Imperial Pigeons where there might be some. The Torresian Imperial Pigeon or Australian Pied Imperial Pigeon is one that can be found in the northern parts of Australia and in the Torres Strait, so hopefully, fingers crossed, we'll see (and hear) it soon too!

Useful resources

To find out a bit more about these birds, there is of course Wikipedia and the references there if you'd like to dig into it more. I also found Birdlife's factsheet interesting.

Useful resources if you're on Christmas Island are the Christmas Island birds app and this birding brochure.

A book I found really useful from the Christmas Island Library was Christmas Island Naturally by H.S. Gray, second edition revised by Rod Clark.

There are also plenty of passionate and knowledgeable locals on the island, and if you get a chance to chat I'm sure it'll be interesting.

Originals at Eco Crab Industries

The paintings I did while on Christmas Island, including this one, are available to purchase at Eco Crab Industries, with at least $20 going to Eco Crab, and the National Parks Trust for the National Park Seabird Rehabilitation Facility each.

Both are excellent local initiatives doing wonderful work for the local environment. Eco Crab is a social enterprise run by Tanya Cross that focuses on education about ocean waste and plastics, organises beach cleans and conducts regular beach cleans on Christmas Island. It is also the only recycling facility on the island, recycling plastic from the ocean and plastic from the community into wonderful products like stunning coasters, bowls and pots, as well as a really cool table that sits at LB4 in the National Park. Check out their website if you're interested in supporting them :).

The National Park Seabird Rehabilitation Facility was set up to help rehabilitate injured seabirds and takes in injured seabirds that are found around the island.

The facility was set up with donations, and relies on donations to be able to continue the important work they do. It is also looking to raise funds for a modest refurbishment. Check out the website if you're keen to contribute to the this facility. The site also raises funds for a range of other worthwhile projects at other national parks.

Disclosure Note: I am not paid or sponsored by either of the above organisations for this. I do have paintings available for purchase at Eco Crab and I have previously volunteered for both Eco Crab and the National Park, donated to both and just think both are doing wonderful, important work for the Christmas Island environment and wildlife.