The little dove with jewels on its wings

THOSE members of the pigeon nobility, the crowned pigeons (Goura), are as big as female turkeys and since the demise of the dodo they are the largest pigeon species. Most of the 300 or so species of pigeons are instantly recognisable as just that – pigeons. The only other really aberrant species is the pheasant pigeon (Otidiphaps nobilis), which resembles and behaves like a pheasant in its native New Guinea, where pheasants don’t occur.

You sometimes read that the diamond dove is, at 19-24cm, the smallest pigeon species, but there are a number of species in its size range. The zebra dove measures 21-23cm, but is heavier. The smallest pigeon in length is the dwarf fruit dove at 13-15cm. This is the smallest fruit doves, but like all it is stocky and misses out on being a record-breaker since it weighs in at 48g, 5g more than than the maximum weight of the diamond dove.