Mauritius Blue Pigeon

Here is a little gallery of drawings and paintings of the Mauritius blue pigeon ((Alectroenas nitidissimus) a charming blue fructivore of the beautiful island of Mauritius (which is in the Indian Ocean, to the east of Madagascar).  You may notice that there are only artworks of the blue pigeon with the yeti ruff and naked smiling vulture head.  That is because the poor pigeon went extinct in the 1830s, a victim if drastic deforestation on the island.  The pigeon went extinct when the fruit trees it relied on for food were cut down.  It looks funny and personable and sad.

 

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