Western Crowned Pigeon
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Order: Columbiformes
Family: Columbidae

[Photo] Western Crowned Pigeon (Goura cristata). Date: 26 July 2007. Author: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Lipton_sale

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The Western Crowned Pigeon, Goura cristata is a large, turkey-sized, approximately 75cm long, blue-grey pigeon with elegant 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.

Along with its close and very similar looking relatives the Victoria Crowned Pigeon and the Southern Crowned Pigeon, it is one of the largest and most beautiful members of the pigeon family. The Western Crowned Pigeon is found and endemic to the lowland rainforests of Papua, Indonesia section of New Guinea; 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 of Threatened Species. It is listed in Appendix II of CITES.

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