'Hot pigeon' steals the hearts of social media users

Check out this pretty boy. Photo / Twitter

Pigeons are often seen as the rats of the sky, but one colour pigeon is now being dubbed "hot pigeon".

have u ever seen such a beautiful pigeon ? pic.twitter.com/9PArpmeUSz

— shelby lorman (@sdlorman) March 8, 2021

Earlier this week writer and comedian Shelby Lorman tweeted a few pictures of the "hot pigeon" with the caption "have u ever seen such a beautiful pigeon?"

"Imagine if they were everywhere in NYC just flying around and eating bread crumbs with their big beautiful blue crowns," one Twitter user wrote.

Science writer Rosemary Mosco, spoke with the New York Post explaining the viral photo.

She said the pigeon is a 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.

The colourful pigeon is native to parts of Southeast Asia.

The regular-looking grey pigeons are "ferals descended from domesticated pets," Mosco said.

Lorman's tweet has inspired an appreciation of other attractive pigeon species as well including New Zealand's very own kererū.

New Zealand's native pigeon (Kererū) is also a beaut. pic.twitter.com/Vwv5cCs25S

— jeremy. (@js_eighty) March 9, 2021

In 2018, the kererū won Bird of the Year.

Twitter had a field day, with Lorman's tweet being shared over 3000 times.