Rock Pigeon (formerly Rock Dove)

Columba livia

Spanish names
Paloma Doméstica, Paloma Bravía

French names
Pigeon biset

Flying rat, winged rat, dove of peace

 "Family" Tree (Taxonomy)

Columbiformes

Columbidae

Description * there are several different colors a Rock Pigeon can be * basic color: bluish-gray to bluish-black * round tail with dark tip at the end * dark gray bill * legs and feet are red to ping to grayish black * males and females look similar, but males are usually larger

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

Checker Blue-bar Pied Pied Red-bar Red Spread

Size 11 - 14 inches. Medium-sized pigeon; slightly less than a pound (.35 kg)

Mourning Dove is slim, with long, pointed tail with white outer tail feathers.

Band-tailed Pigeon has a dark rump and the tail tip is lighter than the base.

Red-billed and White-crowned pigeons have dark rumps and dark underwings.

What does it eat? Seeds, fruits, grains, and human "leftovers".

Where does it eat? gathers in early morning or mid-afternoon on the ground, some times (less commonly) on trees and shrubs

Who eats it? Peregrine Falcons, Merlins, Red-tailed and Cooper's Hawks.

Nesting 2 white eggs incubated by both parents in a well-hidden nest on a ledge; eggs hatch in about 18 days.

Range Worldwide. Resident from southern Alaska and Canada, southward throughout the Americas. Introduced throughout the world.

Habitat Found in cities, suburbs, and farmlands

• The Rock Pigeon was introduced to North America in the early 17th-century by colonists who brought domestic pigeons to Atlantic coast settlements.
• The Rock Pigeon has such a long history of association with humans, (having been used for food and entertainment for over 5,000 years), that the original range of the species is impossible to determine. Escaped (feral) pigeons from pigeon breeders readily form flocks, and wild birds may join them.
• The Rock Pigeon makes a flimsy nest, but it often reuses the location repeatedly, building a new nest on top of the first. Because the pigeons do not try to remove the feces of their nestlings, the nest turns into a sturdy, potlike mound that gets larger month by month. Unhatched eggs and mummies of dead nestlings may also get cemented into the nest.
  
  Pigeons snap beaks, hiss non-vocally, clap wings, and stomp feet to communicate. Bill-snapping accompanied by a hiss is from squabs responding to nest intruders. Wing-clapping is on upstroke of postcopulatory and other display flights. Foot-stomping, seemingly deliberate, is by birds alighting, one foot first, exhibiting "footedness".
• Some pigeons have "stockings", which are feathers on their legs and feet.
• Rock Pigeons are non-migratory, but nevertheless important in study of homing and navigation. It is their well-developed ability to return home from distant sites that has made them useful in the study of navigation. Domesticated as racing pigeons, they have been bred for an ability to return home speedily.
• Pigeon homing is usually thought of as a two step process. Upon release, a pigeon determines the home direction. This step is called position finding or the "map". Once the home direction is determined, the pigeons use a "compass" to fly in that direction. They can use the sun as a compass, but when it is obscured they use the earth's magnetic field.
• Birds that rely on feeding by humans adjust to human schedules. In cities, may look for food at mid-day, when more people are out and about; may identify and seek individuals known to supply food.
• Both male and female Rock Pigeons produce "pigeon milk" which they feed to their hatchlings
• Rock pigeons are monogamous -- mates pair for life.

Read more pigeon cool facts at PigeonWatch!

Join in the FUN and help scientists by counting pigeons!

Read more about Rock Pigeons at All About Birds.

Sources used to construct this page: Johnston, R. F. 1992. Rock Dove. In The Birds of North America, No. 13 (A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, DC: The American Ornithologists' Union.