#oxyphaps

Fairly large common gray pigeon with a brown back, tail, and underparts, iridescent purple and green wing feathers, and a long, erect (don’t laugh), black-tipped crest. Sometimes called the “topknot pigeon”, not to be confused with the red-crested Lopholaimus antarticus who has the same name. Native to and a resident of much of Australia. When startled, it claps its wings loudly and makes a squeaky toy-like whistle with its wings in flight. Can be found in open, wooded habitats and even suburbia. Suprisingly comfortable around humans. When it is time to find a mate, male crested pigeons will approach a female and perform an elaborate mating dance: they bob themselves up and down, while fanning and closing their tail with each bob. this is accompanied by a soft, sharp hooting sound, timed with the rhythm of the bobbing.