It is a nomadic forest species, often seen in lowland forest but recorded sporadically up to 940 m on New Britain (Gilliard and LeCroy 1967; Finch and McKean 1987; D. Bishop in litt. 1996, 1999; Dutson 2011) and 560 m on New Ireland and across Manus (Dutson 2011). Surveys in New Britain found that the species was fairly common in lowland and hill forest, common in degraded hill forest and rare in degraded lowland forest (Davis et al. 2018), although the frequency of records in the degraded hill forests may result from the species's tendency to fly large distances, and may obscure a dependency on coastal and riparian habitats (Gibbs et al. 2001; Davis et al. 2018). The species was absent from oil palm plantations (Davis et al. 2018).

Ducula subflavescens is endemic to the Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea, including Long Island, Umboi, New Britain, Lolobau, Watom, Duke of York, New Ireland, Lavongai, and the Admiralty Islands (including Manus, Lou and Nauna).

Conservation Actions Underway
It occurs in a number of protected 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. Research its tolerance of degraded forest. Monitor populations in a number of primary forest and degraded forest sites across the islands.
Identify and effectively protect a network of reserves, including some containing large areas of unlogged lowland forest and some large community-based conservation areas.