A Lancashire woman was left stunned last week after a pink pigeon believed to be one of the world’s rarest birds suddenly swooped down into her back garden.
37-year-old Kelly Lunney was at her mum’s flat in Nelson last Thursday when she noticed the fluorescent creature land in the communal garden, and was so shocked by its unusual appearance that her first thought was that she must’ve been hallucinating the whole thing.
But it turns out that her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her after all, and after confirming the bird’s existence to her nearby mum she quickly grabbed her phone and snapped some pics of the pink bird.
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As it transpires, despite some sceptics claiming the bird is simply a regular pigeon that has been dyed pink, after conducting some research Kelly believes it may in fact be a Nesoenas Mayeri pink pigeon, which is native to the island of Mauritius.
There are believed to be only around 500 of the birds left in the world, which can be identified by their peachy-coloured breast and back, a rust-coloured tail and a dark pink beak.
The incredible bird was part of a flock that had flown down to peck at the soil which is when Kelly noticed it.
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Speaking about her experience, Kelly said: "I thought I was seeing things at first - or it was just something weird.
"But then, I got my mum up off her bed as well, just to make sure.
"It's shocking more than anything to see a pink pigeon, but it's something that you can tell your grandchildren."
Kelly said the bird stayed around for a couple of hours after she first noticed it, and that it had returned to the garden on several occasions since she first spotted it.
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"I then later saw it come back around seven or eight o'clock in the night. And it's been back every day since that time when it first came," she continued.
"As soon as my mum had looked at it as well, I got a couple of pictures of it, and I thought I'd Google it, because I'd never seen one before.
"My mum had also never seen one during the whole time she'd been alive."
Although there are some who have doubted the authenticity of the bird, Kelly is adamant the pigeon she saw was the real deal.
She said: "A few people have asked me if it's been dipped in paint, but it's got pink feet - and normally, they're like a white, grey colour.
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"And when it picks up its wings, it's got white lines underneath it, and it looks identical on both sides when it's flying.
"Other people in the communal garden have seen it - and there's a man down the bottom who actually feeds them, so I'm sure he would have seen it, too.
"I think everyone's been really shocked by it."
Topics: Animals
Tom Sanders