Crested Pigeon Ocyphaps lophotes

It was almost sunset and this Crested Pigeon was in the shade at my neighbour Carol's place yesterday.

There are not many Crested pigeons here in Tenterfield's south-west. There may be 4-6 individual birds at most. They do not breed rapidly and in fact I don't know much about these pigeons. I do know they nest in a thick dense bush about 4-10 feet from the ground. I know this because my neighbour Carol told me she found a Crested Pigeon sitting (on eggs) in a nest in her native rose bush/climber. Other years the Crested Pigeons have made a nest higher up in dense cover in Carol's garden.

I was about 6 feet from this pigeon when I took a very quick photo of it as I was walking passed it. I do know this particular bird has a mate but I have only seen a baby Crested Pigeon a few years back. There were probably about 10 Crested Pigeons in the immediate area about 6 years ago but most of them were probably eaten by birds of prey.

Several years back I always had problems with one of these birds flying head first into my front windows and sometimes the front wall. They would get startled, panic, and fly off without looking where they were going. Fortunately none have been knocked unconscious in the process. As a result, and because other birds have done the exact same thing, I stopped regularly cleaning the windows of my Flat. This has actually prevented the birds from flying into the windows.

I'm hoping to get a better picture of the pair of Crested Pigeons soon as they have such pretty coloured feathers.