Winged rats got a makeover.
Internet denizens have become obsessed with a bird being dubbed “hot pigeon” for having a similar build to New York City’s favorite flying vermin but far brighter, more colorful feathers.
“have u ever seen such a beautiful pigeon ?” writer and comedian Shelby Lorman tweeted on Monday alongside a photo of what looks like a pigeon that’s been dipped in assorted paint colors, but perfectly blended about its body.
The now viral tweet and its following thread of pretty pidgey pics and captions — “i’m mesmerized… pink-necked green pigeon,” “so….handsome…” — have racked up over 49,000 likes.
So, who is this good-looking fowl?
Science writer Rosemary Mosco, who is currently writing a book on pigeons, explains that the viral photo of a “magical rainbow” pigeon is in fact an image of the pink-necked green-pigeon formally known as treron vernans.
“Folks are asking me about this viral photo,” Mosco tweeted on Tuesday. “Is it a pigeon or a dove? The answer is: Yes.”
Pigeons and doves both belong to a scientific family called Columbidae and have no real taxonomic differences.
The reason treron vernans, which are native to parts of Southeast Asia, are so stunning, and NYC pigeons are more often compared to flying rodents, is due to the fact that urban rock pigeons are “ferals descended from domesticated pets,” Mosco explained.
“They have their own rainbow” she noted, only that rainbow — red, brown, gray, white, black — is comparatively muted.
Lorman’s tweet has inspired a general appreciation of not just hot pigeon but other attractive pigeon species as well.
“Everyone is very excited by the hot pigeon, but I don’t think you all realise how many amazing native pigeons we have in Australia,” tweeted one pigeon-promoter alongside a thread of gaudy chicks, including the rose-crowned fruit dove wompoo fruit-dove, superb fruit-dove, spinifex pigeon and topknot pigeon.
And this one’s hardly the first beautiful bird to grace the skies. Who could forget New York City’s “hot duck,” a male mandarin duck who splashed onto the scene in Central Park in 2018.
He got a run for his money when the city discovered a rare barred owl, perched near 103rd Street in the park.
Bird watchers? More like birds, watch out!