Encouraging endangered and vulnerable species isn't all pandas and rhinos.
Nicobar pigeon chick hatches - the closest relative to the dodo.
Wow!! It looks like something out of Harry Potter 
What a beauty.
Well done Edinburgh Zoo 
n
Never heard of this bird! lovely colours.
Thee are more in the pigeon family than you might think, and some of them are much prettier than our grey town ones. The Victoria crowned pigeon is the biggest, and very showy. Sadly, those beautiful fan feathers have made it vulnerable to being hunted.
www.arkive.org/victoria-crowned-pigeon/goura-victoria/
Your right Eglantine
Nature at it's best.
Another big flightless pigeon, the Rodrigues solitaire, is described in an article at
www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-42057143 It had a bony growth on its wing which it used to fight othe solitaires, but that was no use against the introduced rats and cats which ate its eggs and chicks. Apparently the Victoria Crowned Pigeon also has a growth on the wing-wrist (but smaller than that of the solitaire) that it uses for defence. I didn't known that.
The article was inspired by research for the radio documentary 'Can we revive extinct species like the Dodo?' CrowdScience was on the BBC World Service at 20.35 on Friday 1 December. You can download the CrowdScience Podcast to listen on demand at www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04d42rc
Registering is free, easy, and means you can join the discussion, watch threads and lots more.
Register now »Already registered? Log in with:
Gransnet »
