Victoria Crowned Pigeon

About the victoria crowned pigeon

The victoria crowned pigeon is a large, bluish-grey pigeon with an elegant, lace-like blue crest, a maroon breast, and red irises. It belongs to the genus Goura, a group of four large, ground-dwelling pigeons native to the New Guinea region, and it is the largest extant species of pigeon in the world. Its name commemorates the British monarch Queen Victoria, and it can be readily identified by white tips on its crest feathers and by its deep, whooping calls.

The body is deep blue-grey with a small black mask, and the crest — the signature feature shared by all crowned pigeons besides their size — is conspicuously tipped in white. A row of paler blue-gray feathers with maroon tips forms a distinct wing bar on the wing coverts, while the chest is a deep purple-maroon. Melanism, an excess of dark pigment, has occasionally been observed in the species, as in other crowned pigeons. Both sexes look alike. The victoria crowned pigeon typically measures 73 to 75 cm (29 to 30 in) long, with some individuals exceeding 80 cm (31 in) and 3.5 kg (7.7 lb); on average, adults weigh 2.39 kg (5.3 lb), making the species marginally larger than the other two crowned pigeons and, overall, the largest living pigeon species. Standard measurements on mainland New Guinea include a wing chord of 36–39 cm (14–15 in), a tail of 27–30.1 cm (10.6–11.9 in), a bill of 3.2–3.5 cm (1.3–1.4 in), and an unfeathered tarsus of 8.5–9.8 cm (3.3–3.9 in).

Two subspecies are recognized: G. v. beccarii on the New Guinea mainland, and the nominate G. v. victoria on the islands of Yapen, Biak, and Supiori. The nominate subspecies is noticeably smaller, with a wing chord of 31.6–33.2 cm (12.4–13.1 in), less robust legs and feet, darker plumage overall, and a sparser crest with black feathering on the wing coverts and above the tail.

Behavior and diet

Like other crowned pigeons, the Victoria crowned pigeon makes a loud clapping sound on takeoff. Its mating call is a deep hoota-hoota-hoota-hoota-hoota, while a territorial call sounds like a resounding whup-up, whup-up, whup-up, and its contact call is a deep, muffled, almost human-like ummm or hmmm.

The species is gregarious, usually traveling in pairs or small parties as it searches for food, walking with an unhurried gait along the forest floor. Its diet consists mainly of fallen fruit, and captive birds are noted to be especially fond of figs; seeds and invertebrates supplement the diet occasionally. When disturbed, the birds fly straight up into the canopy or onto a large horizontal branch, where they may remain for a considerable time making contact calls and flicking their tails. In the wild it tends to be shier than the related western crowned pigeon, though it can still sometimes be approached quietly. Males regularly perform aggressive displays to establish dominance, puffing up their chests, repeatedly raising their wings as if preparing to strike, and making short dashes at rivals; actual contact is rare, and males are largely peaceful outside the early mating season.

Breeding peaks late in the wet season and again in the dry season. During courtship, the male lowers his head, stretches forward, and rhythmically swings his head up and down while wagging his fanned tail. In the weeks before egg-laying, the male brings nesting material to the female, who builds a tree nest of stems, sticks, and palm leaves and lays a single white egg. The female does most of the direct brooding, though both parents help raise the chick. The egg incubates for around 30 days, and the young leave the nest while still much smaller than their parents, remaining under active parental care for a total of 13 weeks.

Range and habitat

The Victoria crowned pigeon is found in the lowland and swamp forests of northern New Guinea and the surrounding islands, typically on former alluvial plains, including sago forests. It is usually found at or near sea level, though it can occasionally range up into the hills to an elevation of about 3,000 feet.

Conservation status

The Victoria crowned pigeon is classified as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List and is listed in Appendix II of CITES. It is now the most rarely encountered of the three crowned pigeon species in the wild, even though it is the most widely kept in captivity. The most pressing threat named here is continuing habitat loss from logging. The species has also become uncommon near human settlements because it is heavily hunted there, particularly where guns are common — hunting targets both its plumes and its meat, and the bird can be tame and easy to shoot, though it now appears to have grown more fearful of people in the wild. Trapping live birds for captive collections is illegal but is still believed to occur.