It inhabits primary and secondary lowland rainforest up to 500 m on New Britain, 700 m on New Ireland and 1,200 m on Guadalcanal and Kolombangara. It is common in both primary and degraded forests (Davis et al. 2018), and is often found at the forest edge, in cacao plantations, food gardens and even in urban areas (Blaber 1990, Davies et al. 2015, M. O'Brien in litt. 2021). However, it is thought to be very scarce or absent from more heavily deforested or degraded areas and oil palm plantations (Davies et al. 2015, Davis et al. 2018. G. Dutson in litt. 2021). It has a fairly high dispersal ability, but is not found on more remote islands (Weeks et al. 2017).

Ducula rubricera is widely distributed in the Bismark Archipelago (Papua New Guinea), including New Britain, New Ireland, New Hanover, Watom, Duke of York, Lolobau, Umboi, and the island groups of Tabar, Lihir, Tanga and Feni, as well as Bougainville. It is also found on nearly all forested islands in the Solomon Islands, including Makira (San Cristobal), the New Georgia Islands (including Kolombangara and Tetepare), Santa Isabel, Malaita, Guadalcanal and Choiseul, but not on more remote islands such as Rennell (Dutson 2011, Weeks et al. 2017).

Conservation Actions Underway
It occurs in a number of protected areas, including community conserved areas.

Conservation Actions Proposed
Carry out surveys across its range to estimate population density and gain an estimate of its population size. Continue to monitor trends in forest loss in the region.

Identify and effectively protect a network of reserves, including some containing large areas of unlogged lowland forest and some large community based conservation areas. Improve regulation and enforcement of logging legislation in the Solomon Islands (Danielsen et al. 2010). Establish conservation agreements with villages (Danielsen et al. 2010).