Animal Encounters XV

Well, here we are again. It has been a pretty hectic weekend for me. Celebrating my birthday, meeting up with new friends, hearing from old flames, feeling grumpy and old.....all rolled into 3 days. What can I say? I'm immensely popular :)

The Victoria Crowned Pigeon

This bird is very different from the pigeon we are used to seeing in towns and cities. The crowned pigeon is quite spectacular, being blue in colour and as tall as a turkey (74 cm). It has a large crest of feathers on its head that can be raised - hence its name. It is the largest of all living pigeons and is found in the wild only in New Guinea and some smaller offshore islands nearby.

Meet Fred

These beautiful birds forage the forest floor for fruit, seeds and snails. They seem to spend time in small flocks. Very little is known about them in the wild as they live in dense forest.

Meet George

The sounds that these birds make are unusual. Their contact call sounds a bit like the sound created by blowing over the top of a milk bottle, whilst their display call is a dramatic 'boom-pa!'

Fred & George foraging around

Did you know that the victoria crowned pigeon is the largest living pigeon? But the extinct dodo - also a member of the pigeon family - was much larger, weighing around 14 kg. Like the crowned pigeon, the dodo fed on the forest floor, and with no predators on its island home of Mauritius and so not needing to fly, it evolved shorter wings and became flightless.

Fred & George looking faintly interested

They are hunted for food and sport and collected alive for illegal sale. There are also forestry and mining activities that threaten the forest they live in. They have largely disappeared from areas of human habitation but are thought to be fairly common in the wilder jungles of New Guinea.

As you probably already know, I hate pigeons. Not Fred & George, but the kind which you find in cities. The common pigeon. To me, they're like giant rats with wings. They're pests. They shit everywhere. On trees, on cars, on buildings, on statues, on me. Given the chance, I will stomp on one if I can. And remember, never feed the pigeons. Ever.