Summary

The Victoria Crowned Pigeon is a large, mostly turquoise pigeon species. It gets its name from the obvious and quite spectacular "crown" of white-tipped feathers on its head. It is native to lowland forests of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

This specimen was donated to the Museum in 1874 by the Royal Zoological and Acclimatisation Society of Victoria which managed the Melbourne Zoological Gardens, now commonly known as Melbourne Zoo, where it had likely been raised.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) downgraded the conservation status of the Victoria Crowned Pigeon from Vulnerable to Near Threatened in 2013. Reduction in gun availablility in Papua New Guinea eased the hunting pressure that was previously driving rapid population decreases but the species is still threatened by the impact of logging and development of oil-palm plantations in its lowland habitats. It is also listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to ensure that international trade does not threaten its survival in the wild.

Specimen Details

Taxonomy

Geospatial Information