No one would probably argue that humans are naturally attracted to beautiful things.

No one would probably argue that humans are naturally attracted to beautiful things. And how else could it possibly be when we live on this gorgeous planet where every corner is beaming with nature’s splendid creations, whether that be a scalding hot African desert or a tropical forest soaking with rainwater. It’s all very different but undoubtedly unique in the craziest ways. Its no wonder why some say nature is the world’s greatest artist, and we completely agree with that. We have loads of beautiful nature artifacts here on Bored Panda, but today’s story is wonderful proof of how spectacular it can be.

Image credits: The Virginia Zoo

This exotic bird here is a Victoria Crowned Pigeon. And we realize the sight of it is nothing you would expect after reading ‘a pigeon bird.’ It really is distinct with its bright blue feathers and a beautiful crown on top of its head. It belongs to a Goura family of four unique-looking, ground-dwelling types of pigeons. They are also quite big birds as they could reach the size of a turkey!

Image credits: The Virginia Zoo

Image credits: Laura Wolf

These particular beautiful birds are native to the New Guinea region and got its distinct name to commemorate a great historical figure – the British Queen Victoria, who ruled the UK in the last decades of the nineteenth century.

Image credits: Laura Wolf

Image credits: Sandy Cole

The rare birds are hard to spot roaming wildly as they are the least occurring of all the three crowned pigeon species but are most widely bred in captivity. Deforestation is a great threat to their habitat, and therefore, the species is included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as Near Threatened.

Image credits: Kitty Schweizer

Image credits: Bernard Dupont

The fact that female beauties lay only one egg per mating season is not really helping their survival as well. Furthermore, their mating dance is as intricate as one could expect from such a fancy, colorful bird.

Image credits: Dennis Jarvis

Image credits: Derek Ramsey

As he approaches the female during courtship, the male Victoria Crowned Pigeon Male bows his head in order to show off his best feature – the spectacular crest. And what ritual would it be without a distinct mating song and a good choreography of rhythmically swinging while intensely wagging its tail like the splendid creature he is. Nature sure is a magician!