Rock Pigeon

The Rock Pigeon is the ancestor of the domestic and feral pigeons found in cities around the world, native originally to rocky sea cliffs and canyons of Europe, North Africa, and Asia. Long domesticated and later escaped or released, feral populations now thrive on the ledges, bridges, and building facades of cities everywhere, which mimic the cliff habitat of their wild ancestors. Plumage is extremely variable due to centuries of selective breeding, but the ancestral "wild type" pattern is a blue-gray body with two black bars across each wing, a pale rump, and an iridescent green-and-purple sheen on the neck.

Key field marks

• Stocky body with a small head, short legs, and a relatively short, squared tail
• Highly variable plumage, from the ancestral blue-gray with black wingbars to all-white, rusty, checkered, or pied combinations
• Iridescent green-purple neck sheen, most visible on wild-type birds
• Distinctive wing-clapping sound on takeoff

Similar species

Band-tailed Pigeon is larger, uniformly plain gray with a white nape crescent and yellow bill, and lacks the variable plumage and urban affinity of Rock Pigeon. Eurasian Collared-Dove is slimmer with a black half-collar and long tail, and much smaller-bodied overall.

Habitat and Range

Rock Pigeons originally nested on rocky cliffs and in caves, a habitat now replaced in most of the range by building ledges, bridges, and other urban structures with similar vertical faces and overhangs.

Range

Native to Europe, North Africa, and western Asia, Rock Pigeons have been introduced worldwide through domestication and are now found in virtually every city and town across North America, as well as agricultural areas.

Migration

Rock Pigeons are non-migratory and typically remain within a small home range for life, often just a few city blocks or a single farm.

Behavior

Rock Pigeons are highly social, gathering in large flocks to feed and roost, and are well known for their strong homing ability, a trait exploited for centuries in domesticated racing and messenger pigeons.

Voice

The familiar call is a soft, throaty, repeated cooing, often rendered as "coo-roo-c'coo," given from perches and during courtship display.

Feeding

In urban settings pigeons feed heavily on discarded human food and handouts, while rural and wild-type birds rely more on seeds and grain; they are one of the few birds able to drink by suction rather than tipping the head back.

Nesting and breeding

Pairs are monogamous and can breed year-round in mild climates, building a simple stick platform nest on ledges, under bridges, or in other sheltered urban and cliff sites, typically laying two eggs per clutch.