Columba livia
common pigeon
(Also: rock dove)

Wild Columba livia are native to Europe, North Africa, and southwestern Asia. Feral pigeons are found worldwide, including throughout all of North America. It should be noted that occurrence within this range is not evenly distributed (see habitat).

Wild rock doves nest in crevices along rocky seaside cliffs, close to agriculture or open shrub vegetation. Feral pigeons live in old farm buildings in rural areas. In cities, the skyscrapers tend to take the place of their natural cliff surroundings.

The rock dove has a dark bluish-gray head, neck, and chest with glossy yellowish, greenish, and reddish-purple iridescence along its neck and wing feathers. Females tend to show less iridescence than the males. The bill is dark grayish-pink. Two dark bands across the wings are seen in most pigeons, and one bluish-gray band across the tail. Rock doves and feral pigeons can be divided into a large number of different phenotypes, or groups based on outward characteristics. Some of these classifications are the blue-bar, blue checker, dark checker, spread, and red phenotypes.

Pigeons generally walk or run while bobbing their heads forward and backward. They fly with a steady and direct path. Pigeons are most often seen during daylight, seeking cover at night and in during the heat of the day, according to the climate. They flock while roosting, sunning, and feeding, but no play has been observed. In the nesting territory, both sexes are aggresive, pecking intruders on the head.

Rock doves feed in the early morning and in the mid-afternoon on the open ground. They eat mainly seeds. Studies of pigeons in a semi-rural part of Kansas found that their diet includes the following: 92% corn, 3.2% oats, 3.7% cherry, along with small amounts of knotweed, elm, poison ivy, and barley. In cities, feral pigeons also eat popcorn, cake, peanuts, bread, and currants.

Some common predators of feral pigeons in the North America are opossums (Didelphis virginiana), raccoons (Procyon lotor), great horned owls (Bubo virginianus), and eastern screech-owls (Otus asio). Other predators include the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), American kestrels (Falco sparverius), and peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus).

They can be a nuisance to farmers if a large number of pigeons live in a small area. Some diseases (e.g., histoplasmosis) may be spread in pigeon droppings.

Eaten by humans and used for laboratory research.

Since pigeons are often fed by well-meaning city dwellers, their numbers are high. Wild rock doves also have no special status.

Feral pigeons have been used extensively in laboratories because they are domesticated and found in abundance throughout the world. These studies include flight mechanisms, thermoregulation, water metabolism, genetics of color patterns, and Darwinian evolutionary biology.