The western crowned pigeon (''Goura cristata''), also known as the common crowned pigeon or blue crowned pigeon, is a large, blue-

grey Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

pigeon with blue lacy crests over the head and dark blue mask feathers around its eyes. Both sexes are almost similar but males are often larger than females. It is on average 70 cm (28 in) long and weighs 2.1 kg (4.6 lbs). Along with its close and very similar-looking relatives the

Victoria crowned pigeon 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 t ...

Sclater's crowned pigeon Sclater's crowned pigeon (''Goura sclaterii'') is a large, terrestrial pigeon confined to the southern lowland forests of New Guinea. This pigeon was previously considered as conspecific with Scheepmaker's crowned pigeon (''Goura scheepmakeri'') ...

, and

Scheepmaker's crowned pigeon Scheepmaker's crowned pigeon (''Goura scheepmakeri'') is a large, terrestrial pigeon confined to the lowland forests of south eastern New Guinea. It has a bluish-grey plumage with elaborate blue lacy crests, red Iris (anatomy), iris and very deep ...

, it is one of the largest members of the

pigeon Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

family. The western crowned pigeon is found in and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

lowland Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of ...

rainforests of northwestern

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

; the other species of crowned pigeon inhabit different regions of the island. The diet consists mainly of fruits and seeds. Hunted for food and its plumes, it remains common only in remote areas. Due to ongoing habitat loss, limited range and overhunting in some areas, the western crowned pigeon is evaluated as Vulnerable on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

of Threatened Species. It is listed in Appendix II of

CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

. The western crowned pigeon was first described by the German naturalist

Peter Simon Pallas Peter Simon Pallas Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS FRSE (22 September 1741 – 8 September 1811) was a Prussian zoologist and botanist who worked in Russia between 1767 and 1810. Life and work Peter Simon Pallas was born in Berlin, the son ...

in 1764 and given the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Columba cristata''. A

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study published in 2018 found that the western crowned pigeon was most closely related to

(''Goura sclaterii'').

In culture

* The western crowned pigeon is the official provincial bird of West Papua,Helradica civica et militaria
/ref> and it appears on its

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

. * The video game spin-off ''

Angry Birds Stella ''Angry Birds Stella'', also known as ''Angry Birds Slingshot Stella'', is a puzzle video game and the second spin-off from the ''Angry Birds'' series, developed by Rovio Entertainment. The game was marketed to females by using characters that h ...

'' has a western crowned pigeon named Willow, who wears a striped hat to conceal her crest.

Gallery

Crowned Pigeon 08.jpg Goura cristata Pengo.jpg Western Crowned Pigeon.jpg Goura cristata.png Goura cristata -Safari West Wildlife Preserve, California, USA-8d.jpg Goura cristata -Sentosa, Singapore-8a.jpg Western Crowned Pigeon Wingham zoo.jpg

References

External links

* ARKive
images and movies of the Western Crowned Pigeon ''(Goura cristata)''

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20061013152717/http://www.rdb.or.id/detailbird.php?id=67 Red Data Book {{Taxonbar, from=Q834065

western crowned pigeon The western crowned pigeon (''Goura cristata''), also known as the common crowned pigeon or blue crowned pigeon, is a large, blue-grey pigeon with blue lacy Crest (feathers), crests over the head and dark blue mask feathers around its eyes. Both s ...

Birds of West Papua

Taxa named by Peter Simon Pallas