Western Crowned Pigeon: New Guinea Wonderbird
2011 March 16
Western Crowned Pigeon (Goura cristata) at the National Zoo. I don’t often post captive bird images, but the fact is, this bird is just too fabulous not to share. It looks like it’s vogueing at a masquerade ball! Crowned pigeons (there are three species) are equivalent in size and weight to Black Vultures; they are the world’s largest pigeons. See the Birdlife species fact sheet for the Western Crowned Pigeon’s range, habitat, and conservation status. I saw its spectacular cousin, the Victoria Crowned Pigeon, in the wild in 2006, an experience that still ranks among the highlights of my birding career: The Pigeon with Stars in Its Hair.
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I share your reservations about photographing in zoos, David, but this is a wonderful photo — like a classic portrait. Two things in particular: to me, the perfectly clean, neutral background focuses attention on the bird in a kind of ‘contextless’ way that I think fits zoo photos — it’s not pretending to be in a natural environment — and kudos for being upfront about it.
Unfortunately, zoo photos are likely to be the only kind nearly all of us will ever get of far too many species.
what a lovely portrait, they’re beautiful birds.
I’ve enjoyed browsing your blog, so many wonderful photos!