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Pigeons & Doves

Rock Pigeon

Straßentaube

Columba livia

Pigeons & Doves4 photosFirst seen: 18 July 2026
Rock Pigeon

The Rock Pigeon is the feral form of the wild Rock Dove and the ancestor of most domestic pigeon breeds. Typical birds are blue-grey with two dark wing bars, but urban populations occur in many colours. Buildings, bridges and other structures provide substitutes for the cliffs used by wild birds. It feeds mainly on seeds and discarded food on the ground. The species is now closely associated with human settlements across most of the world.

ID tip: The feral city form is endlessly variable, but any medium pigeon on urban ledges and pavement is this; the native Band-tailed Pigeon has a yellow black-tipped bill, a white nape crescent and keeps to woodland.
First seen: 18 July 2026 · Discovery Park · 4 photos in the collection.

Places in my records

Locations where this species is supported by a dated first record, an unambiguous single-place outing or a reviewed assignment.

Family
Pigeons & Doves (Columbidae)
Length
29–37 cm
Wingspan
62–72 cm
Regional status
Introduced resident (Pacific Northwest, USA)
Conservation
Least Concern LCIUCN Red List · retrieved 27 August 2026
Habitat
Cities, bridges, farmland and the sea cliffs of the wild ancestor
Diet
Seeds, grain and human food scraps
Built from verified occurrence records, not drawn by hand. Core range = the countries holding 99% of all records; the rest are scattered or vagrant records. Record counts track where people watch birds as much as where the birds are, so the map shows presence, not abundance. Data: GBIF (CC BY 4.0). Basemap: Natural Earth.

Selected photographs

Rock PigeonRock PigeonRock PigeonRock Pigeon
‹ Ring-billed GullRuby-crowned Kinglet ›