From - Earth Unreal & Wikipedia,
By - Vinuri Randula,
The Victoria crowned pigeon (Goura victoria) is a large, bluish-grey pigeon with elegant blue lace-like crests, maroon breast and red irises. It is part of a genus (Goura) of four unique, very large, ground-dwelling pigeons native to the New Guinea region. The bird may be easily recognized by the unique white tips on its crests and by its deep 'whooping' sounds made while calling. Its name commemorates the British monarch Queen Victoria.
The Victoria
crowned pigeon is a deep blue-grey color with a small, black mask. Its feather
crest (the signature feature of crowned pigeons other than their size) is
conspicuously white-tipped. On the wing coverts is a row of feathers that are a
paler blue-gray with maroon tips. These form a distinct wing bar. The chest is
a deep purple-maroon color. As in all crowned pigeons, melanism has been observed. The other two crowned
pigeons are somewhat superficially similar, but only the western crowned pigeon overlaps in range with the Victoria
species.
This species is typically 73 to 75 cm (29 to 30 in) long. Some specimens may exceed a length of 80 cm (31 in) and a weight of 3.5 kg (7.7 lb). It is marginally larger than the two other crowned pigeons on average, at an mean of 2.39 kg (5.3 lb ) in adult body mass, thus is considered the largest surviving species of pigeon of Earth. The standard measurements among pigeons on mainland New Guinea are: the wing chord is 36–39 cm (14–15 in), the tail is 27–30.1 cm (10.6–11.9 in), the bill is 3.2–3.5 cm (1.3–1.4 in) and the unfeathered tarsus is 8.5–9.8 cm (3.3–3.9 in).
Like other crowned
pigeons, this species makes a loud clapping sound when it takes flight. The
mating calls of this species are also similar to the other two species of
crowned pigeons, consisting of a deep hoota-hoota-hoota-hoota-hoota sound.
When defending their territories, these birds make a resounding whup-up,
whup-up, whup-up call. Their contact call is a deep, muffled, and
rather human-like ummm or hmmm
Like other crowned
pigeons, the Victoria crowned pigeon is a gregarious species. They usually
travel in pairs or small parties as they search for food. They walk with an
unhurried gait along the forest floor. Their food typically consists of fallen fruit. Birds of this species in captivity are
particularly fond of eating figs. Seeds and invertebrates may occasionally supplement the diet.
When disturbed, these birds fly straight up into the canopy or a large
horizontal branch of a large forest tree. After being disturbed, they may
remain on their perch for a considerable time engaging in contact calls and
flicking their tails. In the wild, this species tends to be shier than the
western crowned pigeon, but can still occasionally be quietly approached. The
males regularly engage in aggressive displays to establish dominance. In these
interactions, the pigeons puff up their chests and repeatedly raise their wings
as if preparing to strike their opponent. They also make short dashes at each
other and may actually hit one another, but rarely make contact and can be
completely peaceful towards other males outside of the early mating season.
Breeding peaks late
in wet season and in the dry
season. When the male
displays for the female, he lowers his head down, stretches forward, and then
rhythmically swings his head up and down while simultaneously wagging his
fanned tail. Although the female does most direct brooding, both parents help
raise the young. The female usually lays a single white egg in a well-built
tree nest of stems, sticks, and palm leaves. In the weeks before she lays the
egg, the male brings nesting material to the female. The egg is incubated
around 30 days. The young leave the nest when they are still much smaller than
their parents but are actively tended to for a total of 13 weeks.
The Victoria
crowned pigeon is now the most rarely occurring of the three crowned pigeon
species in the wild, although it is the most widely kept species in captivity.
Perhaps the most pressing threat to the species is continuing habitat loss due
to logging. It now quite uncommon near human habitations because it is heavily
hunted around them, particularly in areas where gun possession is prevalent. It
The Victoria crowned pigeon is evaluated as Near
Threatened on the IUCN
Red List of Threatened
Species. It is listed in Appendix II of CITES.
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