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The rock dove, rock pigeon, or common pigeon (/ ˈ p ɪ dʒ. ə n / also / ˈ p ɪ dʒ. ɪ n /; Columba livia) is a member of the bird family Columbidae (doves and pigeons). [3]: 624 In common usage, it is often simply referred to as the "pigeon", although this is the wild form of the bird; the pigeons most familiar to people are the domesticated form of the wild rock dove.
Historically, the common names for these birds involve a great deal of variation. The bird most commonly referred to as "pigeon" is the domestic pigeon, descendant of the wild rock dove, which is a common inhabitant of cities as the feral pigeon. Columbidae contains 51 genera divided into 353 species. [4]
The domestic pigeon (Columba livia domestica or Columba livia forma domestica) [2] is a pigeon subspecies that was derived from the rock dove or rock pigeon. The rock pigeon is the world's oldest domesticated bird. Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets mention the domestication of pigeons more than 5,000 years ago, as do Egyptian hieroglyphics ...
The genus was introduced in 1841 by the English ornithologist and bird artist John Gould with the white-quilled rock pigeon (Petrophassa albipennis) as the type species. [2] [3] The genus name is a portmanteau of the Ancient Greek words petros, meaning "rock", and phassa, meaning "pigeon". [4] The genus contains two species: [5]
Rock, domestic, and feral pigeons are all the same species and will readily interbreed. [4] Many domestic birds have gotten lost, escaped or been released over the years, and these gave rise to populations of feral pigeons. Feral pigeons inhabit man-made structures such as buildings as a substitute for cliffs and other rock formations.
Rock pigeons are thought to be one of the first domesticated birds, raised for both their meat and their message-carrying ability.
The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) recognizes 352 species in family Columbidae, the pigeons and doves.They are distributed among 50 genera. This list is presented according to the IOC taxonomic sequence and can also be sorted alphabetically by common name and binomial.
The three Western European Columba pigeons, common wood pigeon, stock dove and rock dove, though superficially alike, have very distinctive characteristics; the common wood pigeon may be identified at once by its larger size at 38–44.5 cm (15– 17 + 1 ⁄ 2 in) and weight 300–615 g (10 + 5 ⁄ 8 – 21 + 3 ⁄ 4 oz), and the white on its ...