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Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) — photo 1 of 4
© william_stephens CC BY 4.0

Pigeons and doves

Rock Pigeon

Columba livia

Year-round

Voice

Call

Marie-Lan Taÿ Pamart

0:39

Call

Marie-Lan Taÿ Pamart

0:29

Song

Sonothèque ADVL

0:15

How to recognize it

  • Jackdaw-sized, stocky pigeon with compact shape

  • Pale grey body; dark bluish-grey head, neck and chest with green-purple sheen

  • Two black wing bars; black tail tip with white-edged outer feathers

  • Noisy flapping takeoff; often glides with wings held in a clear V

About the species

The Rock Pigeon feels like a very familiar city companion, calm and matter-of-fact in its habits. Wild individuals have a clean pale-grey look with two dark wing bars, while urban ones come in a much wider mix of colours and patterns.

It walks with a steady, head-bobbing stride and takes off with a loud beat of wings. Its voice is a soft, rolling coo, and in spring the courtship display becomes lively, with circling, bowing, puffed-up posture, and fanned tail.

In nature it stays around cliffs, ledges, caves, and rocky places, but near people it settles just as easily on roofs, under bridges, and in building gaps. It feeds on seeds, grains, fruit, berries, and leftover food, so it stays around through the year in towns and open country.

Did you know?

  • Sensing what humans cannot

    Rock pigeons navigate by integrating signals invisible to humans — polarised and ultraviolet light, Earth's magnetic field, and infrasound too low for our ears.

  • Blind navigation

    A rock pigeon with its eyes sealed shut, deprived of any landmarks to read, can fly hundreds of miles home and brake to a stop directly above its own loft.

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Sources