People have the following attitude towards pigeons, which are found almost everywhere: they crap, they spread infection, and they are not very smart. And, in general, they are flying rats, which cause only harm. But there is a very special representative in this family, which cannot even be called a dove. King. How to eat the king of birds. 
The physique of the inhabitant of the distant islands of the Pacific and Indian Ocean resembles our sisar and, by the way, the dodo, the extinct Mauritian dodo, of which it is a close relative. 
But that's where the similarities end. For the plumage of the maned dove is a true masterpiece of the great painter - nature. Carefully, like a master of the Middle Ages, she created an intricate pattern, placing stroke on stroke, feather on feather. 
This did a disservice to the Nicobar pigeon - it made it the object of close attention of poachers of all stripes. The task is also simplified by the fact that the rainbow bird is designed more for walking and running than for flying. And if you show at least a little dexterity, you can get them with almost bare hands - go and collect the pigeon harvest. Which goes both for sale and for banal meat. 
The population decline is also facilitated by the fact that maned pigeons are monogamous. Pairs are created once, but during the breeding season, the spouse traditionally performs a courtship ritual, dancing around his betrothed and fanning his luxurious mane. The female, which differs from the male in its smaller size and slightly less bright plumage, lays only one egg. 
The couple shares parental responsibilities and takes turns raising the heir. A month later, a chick is born, which the parents feed with crop milk - a special curdled secretion intended for feeding the offspring. The young begin to fly only after three months. 
Babies grow quickly because they have enough food. But the population is replenished with one full-fledged individual only after almost six months. During this time, how many pigeons are caught and die due to natural causes? Much more.
In this regard, the species is already approaching a vulnerable position. True, in recent years some progress has been observed on the part of the authorities in preserving it. But it depends only on the efforts of people whether this miracle will survive, or whether it will suffer the sad fate of the extinct dodo.
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