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Rock Pigeon Columba livia (Gmelin, 1789) Feral rock pigeon in Tallahassee, Florida I include the feral rock dove/rock pigeon  here because it is one of the most common dove species found in Tallahassee (after the mourning dove).  Rock doves often make good pets and seem to be more relaxed in captivity than other dove species.  One day we were at a strip mall in town and saw a healthy looking rock dove sitting in the sun on the sidewalk in front of one of the stores.  I approached him and he made no effort to walk or fly away.  So I picked him up and he seemed absolutely unafraid.  At first I thought he might be ill and was too weak to fly away.  But he did not look sick, so I carried him back to the car and put him in the back seat.  Then he was not very happy.  After a few moments he found his way to the front seat and sat in my daughter's lap for the remainder of the trip home. Once in the house we fed him the finch seed we give the diamonds in the kitchen and left him on the side of the sink.  After eating and drinking his fill he sat down, puffed up, rolled his wings under him, and went to sleep. Later we found him on the floor exploring.  As before he was easily picked up and held.  As the days went by he always was close to one of us and appeared to be quite happy and content.  My daughters took him outside as if he was a cat or dog and the bird always stayed close.  If they were playing on the front porch or rear deck, the bird would always be there with them, even when the neighborhood children brought their dog and cat with them.  There was never any trouble with those three, but I would not have trusted other people's dogs and cats near the dove. The dove lived with us for a number of years, then one year we had to leave home for a week, and the people that were to supply food and water to our birds while we were gone did not provide the pigeon with enough water and he died.  Strangely enough not one of our diamond doves died because of the lack of water. A flock of feral rock pigeons eating seed provided by people in a park Introduction The rock dove/rock pigeon (Columba livia), or feral pigeon, is a member of the bird family Columbidae, doves and pigeons. In common usage, this bird is often simply referred to as the "pigeon". The British Ornithologists' Union and the American Ornithologists' Union have changed the official English name of the bird in their regions to Rock Pigeon. (2) Description The white lower back of the pure Rock Dove is its best identification character, but the two black bars on its pale gray wings are also distinctive . The tail is margined with white. It is strong and quick on the wing, dashing out from the sea caves, flying low over the water, its white rump showing well from above. Feral Rock Doves commonly show a very wide range of plumage variation.  It also has been noted that the color patterns of the feral rock dove are often asymmetrical.  Feral rock doves also have longer wings than the wild rock dove. The head and neck of the mature bird are a darker blue-gray than the back and wings; the lower back is white. The green and lilac or purple patch on the side of the neck is larger than that of the Stock Dove, and the tail is more distinctly banded. Young birds show little luster and are duller. Size The male Rock Pigeon is 308 to 344 mm on length and the female Rock Pigeon 326mm to 324mm.  The weight range of both sexes combined is between 238 and 302 grams. (2) Distribution The wild Rock Dove has a  natural resident range in western and southern Europe, North Africa and into southwest Asia. Its domesticated form, the feral pigeon, has been widely introduced elsewhere, and is common, especially in cities,  over much of the world. In Britain, Ireland, and much of its former range, the Rock Dove probably only occurs pure in the most remote areas.  A Rock Dove's life span is anywhere from 3-5 years in the wild to 15 years in captivity, though longer-lived specimens have been reported. The species was first introduced to North America in 1606 at Port Royal, Nova Scotia. A female rock dove sunning herself on a park walkway Habitat The habitat of the wild rock dove is on natural cliffs, usually on coasts but is also found in mountain areas at altitudes as high as 14,000 feet in the Himalayas.  Prefers open, un-wooded country, steppe, farmland, and desert. (1) The habitat of the feral rock dove is mostly in cities where they nest on buildings, under various kinds of overhangs and open roof structures and frequent parks and other places were people go to eat in the open. Feeding The rock dove feeds primarily seeds of  of cereals, legumes and other weeds.  It often visits fields for grain and other green foods.  Like other doves it prefers to be near water and usually drinks after feeding. Feral rock doves often frequent parks and other areas where people eat in the open and look for scraps or handouts.  They also are quite willing to be fed by hand and will closely approach any human offering food.  In some parks they have been known to land on people's arms and heads when looking for food.  If one person feeds them frequently, they will soon learn to recognize that person and approach him or her for a handout.  One day I was walking down a street some distance from the park where I often feed the pigeons and a flight of about one dozen birds passed overhead at some altitude.  When the saw me they made a sweeping circle and came around, descended, and landed on an electric wire above my head.  Unfortunately I was not carrying any food with me at the time.   "This was easier when we climbed up..." Reproduction Courtship and Mating Like most other temperate zone doves, courtship and mating usually occur as the days are increasing in length.  Also like most other doves, once a pair of pigeons bond they will stay together for life.  Courtship often starts with cooing and bowing, but the bowing is a little less dramatic than the diamond doves.  The male pigeon will inflate his throat, displaying the metallic colored feathers on his neck, lowers his head and turns around in circles in the presence of the female he is courting.   Male pigeon doing bows for a female In some cases the male will slightly spread his tail when he runs after the female in short spurts.  This is similar to the action the mourning dove males use in courting their females.  Again like other doves, the pigeon will engage in "driving" where the male follows closely behind the female.  Sometimes the male and female will exchange "kisses" which is a rapid light pecking around the head and the neck, often with their eyes closed. The female also will put her beak inside the males open beak which is called "billing".  Diamond doves also engage in kissing and billing.  And finally the male will mount the female and copulation will occur. After mating, the male pigeon may make a display flight where the wings are clapped behind the pigeons back.  Once mating takes place the female pigeon will lay her first egg in about ten days.  The second egg will be laid about 44 hours after the first. (4) Nests and Egg Incubation Like most other doves, rock doves usually make a flimsy nest. The nest is usually on a building ledge, underneath a bridge, or under the roof of some open air structure.   In a more natural environment the nest may be located on rock cliffs or in a cave.  It is a slight structure of grass, twigs, or other plant material. As long as the parents are successful in raising their babies, the nest will be used over and over.  The female pigeon usually lays two white eggs. Rarely a female will lay one egg or even three eggs. The eggs are incubated by both parents for about 18 days.  The female incubates the eggs at night and part of the day.  The male incubates the eggs during the day giving the female time to get off the nest to eat and drink. Babies The nestling has pale yellow down and a flesh colored bill with a dark band. Like other doves, the pigeon baby is given "crop milk" by its parents for the first week or so and then the parents continued feeding my mixing seeds with the crop milk until the are providing 100% regurgitated seed by the end of the second week.  The babies usually leave the nest in about 30 days after hatching.  By that time they are almost as big as the parents. Color Variations One of the most interesting characteristics of the feral rock dove is that they come in many different colors. In fact, some pigeon fanciers, people who especially like pigeons can identify up to 28 different color morphs. Most of these color morphs include beautiful iridescence neck feathers that include shiny, metallic appearing feathers.  Cornell University's Project PigeonWatch (1) groups pigeon colors into seven morphs.  Blue Bar Red Bar Checker Red Spread White Pied Blue-bar:  This is the color and pattern of the original wild pigeons from Europe, Asia, and Africa.  It is called blue-bar, even though these birds are not really blue. Blue-bars generally have a dark head, neck, and chest with some iridescence; a light-gray breast and belly; a black band at the end of the tail; and two black stripes or bars on each wing.  In wild feral populations there are a predominance of this color pattern while in the towns and cities there is a greater variety color patterns.       Red-bar:  Some pigeons have the same basic pattern as blue-bars but these birds have a general reddish appearance. The black areas of the blue bar are replaced with a dark, rusty-red, or brown color. Since these birds are similar to the blue bar color pattern they are called red-bars.           Blue Checker:   Pigeons that have a patterns on their wings similar to the bird in this photograph are called checkers. The wing bars are usually wider than the blue bar.  There is considerable variation, with pigeons that range from very light gray with only a few black checks, to very dark with only some light-gray still showing. Derek Goodwin reports that this pattern is the most common in the pigeons found in London. (3)  Red Checkers can be found but I do not have any photos of these birds at the present.       Red: Pigeons that have a dark red or rusty brown color over most of or all of their body, they are called reds.  Red colors are usually infrequent in pigeons except where they have been derived from homing pigeons that were released.  Locally there seem to be very few red bars and reds.         Spread: The spread or black color pattern ranges from a black slate color to a slate back color and usually covers the entire body except for the metallic feathers on the neck.  This color pattern includes black wing and tail bars similar to the blue bar.               White:  These birds are solid white. According to Goodwin (3), pure white birds usually only stay white in the first generation after release.  Some white pigeons are albinos, with a pink beak, pink legs, and red eyes.  The bird here may have been a descendant of a pure white bird, but since it now has some color it should be classified as a pied. But since there are no whites in our local flock at this time I include this bird here, since it is the whitest bird we have.             Pied:  When pigeons of any color have white patches in various locations on their body they are called pieds.  The pigeon in the photograph has white wing feathers but pieds may have white tails or white patches on their heads.  In the local area there are a number of birds that have this white patches on various parts of their body.  Some even have one wing white and another the natural color.           References (1) Anonymous, "Rock Doves" (On-line), Cornell Lab of Ornithology - All About Birds, Accessed January 17, 2006 at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/programs/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Rock_Pigeon.html (2) Gibbs, David; Barnes, Eustace; Cox, John "Rock Pigeon, Columba livia", Pigeons and Doves, A Guide to Pigeons and Doves of the World, London: Yale University Press 2001, pp. 176-179 (3) Goodwin, Derek, "Rock Pigeon, Columba livia", Pigeons and Doves of the World, London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History), 1967, pp. 171-172 (4) Mosca, Frank, "Pigeon Genetics" (On-line), Accessed January 25, 2006 at http://www.angelfire.com/ga3/pigeongenetics/index.html (5) Roof, J. 2001. "Columba livia" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed January 16, 2006 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Columba_livia.html (6) Vriends, Matthew M., PhD., "The Dove Species", Doves, A Complete Pet Owner's Manual. Happauge, NY: Barrons Educational Series, Inc., 1994 , pp. 49, 52, 59 ©2006 - Helen White Helen White P. O. Box 367, Tallahassee, FL 32302-0367 Last revised on: January 25, 2006