Classified as a pigeon but looking like a pheasant, the chick officially known as Otidiphaps nobilis hatched in Warsaw Zoo just over two weeks ago.

Posting photos of the adorable chick on social media on Monday, delighted zoo staff said: “For over 2 weeks, we have been taking care of a pheasant chick in the aviary.

“This species of pigeon (the species name refers to its appearance, which resembles a pheasant more than a pigeon) in nature, depending on the subspecies, inhabits New Guinea and several nearby islands.

“Our little pheasant is the first chick of this species in the capital zoo and, it seems, the first in the history of Polish Zoos.

“Also in European collections, these birds breed extremely rarely.”

A subspecies of the bird, the black-naped pheasant pigeon, recently made headlines after being rediscovered on Fergusson Island in Papa New Guinea in 2022, following a 140-year absence.

Until its reappearance, the last recorded sighting of the elusive bird was in 1882.