The Victoria Crowned Pigeon Has The Beauty And Grace Of Its Namesake Queen

By Amy Pilkington, Diply

I have long-since learned to stop assuming that pigeons are boring pests. Just because the ones I've been most aware of are the noisy, gray, French-fry stealing North American type, doesn't mean they are all a pain in the butt.

Nor does it mean that all of them are gray and dull. Considering that there are 344 distinct species in the pigeon/dove family, variety is the name of the game.

The biggest species of them all is the Victoria crowned pigeon of Northern New Guinea and its surrounding islands.

It's hard to find images that truly showed the scale, but an adult averages between 28-30 inches from head to tail, making then nearly as large as a female turkey.

It doesn't take much sleuthing to figure out that it was named for Queen Victoria.

The dusty, royal blue color and incredible crest are definitely regal.

Not to mention those piercing red eyes.

For many bird species, the males and females look very different, but not the Victoria crowned pigeon.

In fact, though the males may grow slightly larger than females, the only way to know the sex of an individual bird for sure is surgery.

These are terrestrial, foraging birds and will only fly if absolutely necessary.

Instead, it digs through the marshy ground of its jungle habitat in search of fallen fruit, seeds, and insects.

Unfortunately, habitat loss has caused a steep decline in the wild population, and the species is currently listed as Near Threatened.

See more at: Diply