Rock Dove

The Rock Dove (or Feral Pigeon) comes in all shades: blue, black, pale grey, dull red, pale brown and off-white.

Species introduction

At a glance
Latin name: 
Columba livia
Family: 
Pigeons and Doves
Family Latin name: 
COLUMBIDAE
Category: 
Birds

Species description

Species description

The Rock Dove has various additional names, including Rock Pigeon and Common Pigeon, but should properly be called a Feral Pigeon. It is the wild ancestor of all feral and domesticated pigeons. Darwin counted nearly 230 separate varieties of the latter. 'Pure' Rock Doves are found only on the north and west coasts of Scotland, and the coasts of Northern Ireland. 

In Britain it is a resident breeder, with nearly half a million pairs estimated to have been here in the summer of 2016. It is this bird that can be seen waddling and strutting around town centres the length and breadth of Britain. 

This bird comes in all shades: blue, black, pale grey, dull red, pale brown and off-white. In comparison, the Stock Dove has a generally blue-grey appearance, and a more-pronounced iridescent bottle-green area at the back of its neck. 

They are seed and berry eaters that get by with scavenging in urban parks and gardens.

Species photographs

Larger photograph(s) (click to magnify)

Details

Species family information

This is a large family that feeds primarily on seeds, fruits, and plants. They are strong flyers, famed for their homing ability, using the sun as a compass and landmarks to navigate.

Category information

The earliest feathered dinosaur fossils date from the early Cretaceous, but the ancestry of birds goes further back to Jurassic theropod dinosaurs, which shared a common ancestor with the crocodilians. Well known theropod groups include the tyrannosaurs, allosaurs, and other carnivores. Of surviving bird groups, the most ancient are the ratites (ostriches, rheas, tinamous, moas, kiwis, cassowaries, and emus), followed in evolutionary order by the waterfowl (ducks, geese and swans) and then the land fowl (chickens, turkeys, pheasants and their kin). Heene cemetery’s most ancient bird visitors are the woodpigeons. Strictly, therefore, we ought to refer to birds as dinosaurs, for they are direct descendants. The RSPB would be more accurately restyled as the RSPD. Where known, the conservation status of each bird is given as red, amber, or green, according to its survival potential based on 2016 populations and recent population trends.

Birds are warm-blooded, and have feathers, toothless, beaked jaws, and a strong, lightweight skeleton. They lay hard-shelled eggs. Their hearts have four chambers, and their metabolic rate is high. Although most are adapted for flight, many can also run, jump, swim and dive. Flightless birds retain vestigial wings. Brown, green, and grey are the commonest bird colours, for camouflage.