Facts About Pigeons and Doves
The Natural History of Pigeon Species and Their History With Humans
The familiar city pigeon is just one of a large family of beautiful and adaptable birds. Humans have a mixed relationship with these interesting species.
Some members of the pigeon family have had a long and intricate association with humans. Sacred in some cultures, they are hunted or raised for food in others. Some have benefited from the increased food supply provided by agriculture and human garbage; others have suffered from habitat loss and overhunting. While the white dove stands as an international symbol of peace, the feral Rock Dove multiplies in cities, fouling sidewalks and buildings, and feeding on garbage, earning the name of “flying rat.” Pigeons and doves have been immortalized in poetry and prose, music and art. They conjure up both positive and negative images for most of us, but what do we really know about these contradictory birds? Many people are unaware that the pigeon family includes hundreds of species, some of which are among the most beautiful birds on Earth.
Here are some interesting facts about pigeons:
- Pigeons are found almost everywhere on Earth; however, they don’t occur in very cold places or in very dry places. There are no native pigeons on the Hawaiian Islands or on the islands of the mid-Atlantic ridge.
- Pigeon and dove are synonyms: they are the same thing. There are 309 different species, belonging to the taxonomic family Columbidae.
- Pigeons are arranged into four subfamilies: typical pigeons, which eat predominantly seeds; fruit pigeons, fruit eaters found in tropical Africa and Asia; crowned pigeons, which have a crest of feathers on the head; and a fourth subfamily containing only one species—the Tooth-billed Pigeon, which has a serrated upper bill.
- A muscular gizzard grinds ingested seed for seed-eating species. The same structure in the fruit eaters removes the fruit from the pit, leaving the pit intact—fruit pigeons often disperse the seeds of fruiting plants to new locales.
- Nestling pigeons drink milk from the crops of both parents. Pigeon milk is quite similar to milk produced for young by mammals.
- Pigeons drink water by sucking it up through the beak, a feature unusual in birds.
- City pigeons, carrier (or homing) pigeons, domestic pigeons raised for meat, and racing pigeons are all the same species, descended from the Rock Dove of Europe, North Africa, and South Asia.
- Pigeons are powerful flyers. Racing pigeons can reach speeds of 70 km/hr (44 mph).
- Because of their amazing ability to find their way home, even over very large distances, homing pigeons have been used to deliver messages since the time of the early Egyptians.
- The Passenger Pigeon may have once been the most numerous bird on Earth. In the early 1800s there were between 3 and 5 billion Passenger Pigeons in North America.
- Dove hunting has long been a popular sport. In some American states, Mourning Doves are protected, while in others, there is a dove hunting season.
- Eleven pigeon species are extinct, including the famous Dodo Bird and the Passenger Pigeon. Many more are threatened.
Read more about pigeons:
Columbidae - Doves and Pigeons
Citizen Scientists Pigeon Watch
Sources:
Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds. Perrins, Christopher ed. Buffalo: Firefly Books, 2003
Lament for the Passenger Pigeon. Harrowsmith Country Life: Dec 2006, p. 46
The Book of Knowledge. McLoughlin E. V., and J. M. S. Careless Eds. Toronto: Grolier. 1958
