Over 13 months we studied the diet of the fruit dovePtilinopus insularis, endemic to the exceptionally remote South Pacific island of Henderson. Nineteen plant species were recorded in the diet by faecal analysis and direct observation. The fruit ofProcris pedunculata(Urticaceae) was the most common food. When it was unavailable, the doves turned to the young shoots of the fernPhymatosorus scolopendria.Subject to a maximum diameter of about 18 mm, the doves ate nearly all types of available fruit. By combining the diet studies with studies of plant phenology we were able to assess which, of the fruits available, were preferred. The doves preferred the larger fruit. Given that the fruit dove today eats nearly all available fruit species, we ponder on how it co‐existed with at least two other pigeon species that formerly lived on Henderson Islan