Scheepmaker's crowned pigeon (''Goura scheepmakeri'') is a large, terrestrial pigeon confined to the lowland forests of south eastern

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 ...

. It has a bluish-grey plumage with elaborate blue lacy crests, red iris and very deep maroon breast. Both sexes have a similar appearance. It is on average 70 cm (28 in) long and weighs 2,250 grams (5 lbs), making this the second largest living pigeon species behind the Victoria crowned pigeon.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by the German zoologist

Otto Finsch Friedrich Hermann Otto Finsch (8 August 1839, Warmbrunn – 31 January 1917, Braunschweig) was a German ethnographer, natural history, naturalist and colonial explorer. He is known for a two-volume monograph on the parrots of the world which earned ...

who received a live bird from the dealer C. Scheepmaker in

Amsterdam Zoo Natura Artis Magistra (Latin for "Nature is the teacher of art"), commonly known just as Artis (), is a zoo and botanical garden in the centre of Amsterdam. It is the oldest zoo in the Netherlands and fifth oldest zoo in the world. In addition t ...

and named it after him. Scheepmaker's crowned pigeon was previously considered as conspecific with

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'') ...

(''Goura sclaterii'') with the English name southern crowned-pigeon. 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 Scheepmaker's crowned pigeon was most closely related to the Victoria crowned pigeon (''Goura victoria''). Being tame and heavily hunted for its meat and plumes, Scheepmaker's 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 ...

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet

Red Data Book
{{DEFAULTSORT:pigeon, crowned, southern

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 ...

Articles containing video clips