Animal Directory Featured species in the planned Aviary habitat
Victoria Crowned Pigeon
Goura victoria
NT
Fun facts
- The largest living pigeon — turkey-sized at up to 75 cm long — and crowned with a lace-like fan of feather plumes tipped in white.
- Slate-blue plumage with a maroon breast and a startlingly red iris; the overall effect in person looks closer to a peacock than to a city pigeon.
- Endemic to lowland and swamp forests of northern New Guinea, where it forages on the ground for fallen figs and seeds.
- Pairs perform a low, deep boom-call duet to advertise their territory — the sound carries through dense forest understorey and is unmistakable.
- IUCN listed as Near Threatened in 2016 due to ongoing habitat loss and historical hunting for plumes and meat; one of the species the global zoo network co-manages a studbook for.
From the master plan
The Victoria Crowned Pigeon is the ground-level surprise of the Aviary — a species guests usually don’t recognise as a pigeon at all until they look at the sign. Staged along the dome’s leaf-litter floor, it gives the zone a calm, deliberate contrast to the high-flying macaws overhead.
IUCN status sourced from the Victoria Crowned Pigeon assessment (BirdLife International, 2016) — listed as Near Threatened with a decreasing population trend.
Find them in
Zone 14
Aviary
A colorful free-flight habitat full of sound, motion, and tropical light
Visit Aviary