Home/Species/ Rock Pigeon

Columba livia

Gmelin, 1789

Rock Pigeon

G5Secure Found in 128 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

Least concernIUCN

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105107

Element CodeABNPB01010

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVertebrate Animal

IUCNLeast concern

Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumCraniata

ClassAves

OrderColumbiformes

FamilyColumbidae

GenusColumba

Other Common Names

Domestic Pigeon (EN) Paloma Doméstica (ES) Pigeon biset (FR) Pombo-doméstico (PT) Rock Dove (EN)

Concept Reference

American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.

Taxonomic Comments

See Banks and Browning (1995) for justification of the use of the specific name livia over domestica. See Johnston (1992) for information on the genealogical relationships of wild rock doves, domestic pigeons, and feral pigeons.

Conservation Status

Rank MethodExpertise without calculation

Review Date2016-04-07

Change Date1996-11-27

Range Extent Comments

Native to Eurasia. Introduced and established throughout most of world.

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

In wild state along rocky seacoasts or inland in gorges, river valleys, caves, and desert oases. Feral birds occasionally in natural habitats, more abundantly near human settlement, especially in cities and around farms. Nests in cliff ledges, caves, building ledges, bridge structures, monuments, abandoned houses and barns, and in palm trees (e.g., West Indies).

Reproduction

Clutch size usually 2. Incubation 17-19 days, by both sexes. Young tended by both parents, first fly at about 5 weeks. Up to several broods per year. See Johnston and Johnson (1990).

Terrestrial Habitats

Sand/duneCliffCropland/hedgerowSuburban/orchardUrban/edificarian

Palustrine Habitats

Riparian

Other Nations (2)

CanadaNNA

Province	Rank	Native
Island of Newfoundland	SNA	No
Northwest Territories	SNA	No
Labrador	SNA	No
Quebec	SNA	No
Yukon Territory	SNA	No
Nova Scotia	SNA	No
Manitoba	SNA	No
New Brunswick	SNA	No
Prince Edward Island	SNA	No
Ontario	SNA	No
Saskatchewan	SNA	No
British Columbia	SNA	No
Alberta	SNA	No

United StatesNNA

Province	Rank	Native
Rhode Island	SNA	No
New York	SNA	No
District of Columbia	SNA	No
North Dakota	SNA	No
Maryland	SNA	No
Delaware	SNA	No
Indiana	SNA	No
Illinois	SNA	No
North Carolina	SNA	No
New Hampshire	SNA	No
Michigan	SNA	No
Pennsylvania	SNA	No
Ohio	SNA	No
Kansas	SNA	No
South Carolina	SNA	No
Nevada	SNA	No
Georgia	SNA	No
California	SNA	No
New Jersey	SNA	No
Wyoming	SNA	No
Mississippi	SNA	No
Maine	SNA	No
Idaho	SNA	No
Missouri	SNA	No
Navajo Nation	SNA	No
Wisconsin	SNA	No
Texas	SNA	No
Tennessee	SNA	No
Hawaii	SNA	No
Colorado	SNA	No
Montana	SNA	No
New Mexico	SNA	No
South Dakota	SNA	No
Minnesota	SNA	No
Arkansas	SNA	No
Iowa	SNA	No
Connecticut	SNA	No
Washington	SNA	No
West Virginia	SNA	No
Virginia	SNA	No
Oregon	SNA	No
Florida	SNA	No
Oklahoma	SNA	No
Massachusetts	SNA	No
Nebraska	SNA	No
Louisiana	SNA	No
Arizona	SNA	No
Utah	SNA	No
Kentucky	SNA	No
Vermont	SNA	No
Alabama	SNA	No

Roadless Areas (128)

Alaska (15)

Area	Forest	Acres
Boston Bar	Chugach National Forest	53,617
Douglas Island	Tongass National Forest	28,065
Gravina	Tongass National Forest	37,381
Juneau-Skagway Icefield	Tongass National Forest	1,187,268
Kenai Mountains	Chugach National Forest	306,600
Lindenberg	Tongass National Forest	25,855
Madan	Tongass National Forest	68,553
North Baranof	Tongass National Forest	314,089
North Wrangell	Tongass National Forest	8,091
Redoubt	Tongass National Forest	68,347
Revilla	Tongass National Forest	29,298
Rhine	Tongass National Forest	23,010
Sitka Urban	Tongass National Forest	112,003
Taku-Snettisham	Tongass National Forest	664,928
Twenty Mile	Chugach National Forest	198,775

Arizona (3)

Area	Forest	Acres
Catalina St. Pk. Roadless Area	Coronado National Forest	951
Cdo Wsa	Coronado National Forest	1,955
Upper Romero Wsr	Coronado National Forest	150

California (26)

Area	Forest	Acres
Callahan Flow	Modoc National Forest	6,618
Camuesa	Los Padres National Forest	8,209
Castle Peak	Tahoe National Forest	14,974
Coldwater	Cleveland National Forest	8,402
Ebbetts	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	255
Fish Canyon	Angeles National Forest	29,886
Fox Mountain	Los Padres National Forest	52,072
Granite Peak	San Bernardino National Forest	450
Horse Mdw.	Inyo National Forest	5,687
Ladd	Cleveland National Forest	5,300
Magic Mountain	Angeles National Forest	15,542
Malduce Buckhorn	Los Padres National Forest	14,177
Mill Creek	Sequoia National Forest	27,643
Mt. Hoffman	Modoc National Forest	9,780
Mt. Reba	Stanislaus National Forest	3,869
Pleasant View	Angeles National Forest	26,395
Raymond Peak	Stanislaus National Forest	3,646
Red Mountain	Angeles National Forest	8,034
Rincon	Sequoia National Forest	54,610
San Sevaine	San Bernardino National Forest	6,866
Santa Cruz	Los Padres National Forest	21,182
Sugarloaf	San Bernardino National Forest	8,206
Tequepis	Los Padres National Forest	9,080
Tule	Angeles National Forest	9,861
Woodpecker	Sequoia National Forest	11,936
Woolstaff	Sequoia National Forest	41,445

Colorado (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Comanche Peak Adjacent Area	Arapaho & Roosevelt NFs	44,158

Florida (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Pinhook	Osceola National Forest	15,405

Idaho (5)

Area	Forest	Acres
Bear Creek	Caribou-Targhee National Forest	118,582
Hoodoo	Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest	153,868
Italian Peak	Caribou-Targhee National Forest	141,158
Lemhi Range	Salmon-Challis National Forest	308,533
Palisades	Caribou-Targhee National Forest	122,002

Kentucky (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Wolfpen	Daniel Boone National Forest	2,835

Montana (14)

Area	Forest	Acres
Basin Creek	Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest	9,500
Big Log	Helena National Forest	8,954
Bmss Ra 1485	Flathead National Forest	334,275
Bridger	Gallatin National Forest	45,059
Cabinet Face East #671	Kootenai National Forest	50,326
East Pioneer	Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest	145,082
Gallatin Fringe	Gallatin National Forest	51,571
Holter	Helena National Forest	1,965
Madison	Gallatin National Forest	127,859
Nevada Mountain	Helena National Forest	50,135
North Absaroka	Custer National Forest	21,063
North Absaroka	Gallatin National Forest	159,075
Reservation Divide	Lolo National Forest	16,908
West Big Hole	Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest	133,563

Nevada (9)

Area	Forest	Acres
Bald Mtn.	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	41,598
Mystic (NV)	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	5,644
Rose - Alum Creek	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	853
Rose - Big Meadows	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	311
Rose - Davis Mdw.	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	2,361
Rose - Evans	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	4,782
Rose - Galena	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	3,711
Santa Rosa	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	54,555
South Schell	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	125,614

New Hampshire (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Pemigewasset	White Mountain National Forest	32,255

New Mexico (4)

Area	Forest	Acres
Ortega Peak	Lincoln National Forest	11,545
South Guadalupe Mountains	Lincoln National Forest	20,930
Thompson Peak	Santa Fe National Forest	33,001
West Face Sacramento Mountains	Lincoln National Forest	41,176

North Carolina (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Craggy Mountain	Pisgah National Forest	2,657
Jarrett Creek	Pisgah National Forest	7,485

North Dakota (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Blacktail	Dakota Prairie Grasslands	8,620
Long X Divide	Dakota Prairie Grasslands	10,099

Oregon (6)

Area	Forest	Acres
Bend Watershed	Deschutes National Forest	14,829
Hellhole	Umatilla National Forest	65,679
Hurricane Creek	Wallowa-Whitman National Forest	1,606
Twin Mountain	Wallowa-Whitman National Forest	58,533
Umpqua Spit	Siuslaw National Forest	2,090
West - South Bachelor	Deschutes National Forest	25,994

South Dakota (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Indian Creek	Buffalo Gap National Grassland	24,666

Tennessee (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Stone Mountain	Cherokee National Forest	5,367

Texas (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Big Creek	National Forests in Texas	1,447
Little Lake Creek	National Forests in Texas	596

Utah (16)

Area	Forest	Acres
418024	Uinta National Forest	51,699
418025	Uinta National Forest	32,698
Beehive Peak	Fishlake National Forest	59,137
Burch Creek	Wasatch-Cache National Forest	6,938
Lone Peak Contiguous	Wasatch-Cache National Forest	874
Mahogany Range	Wasatch-Cache National Forest	11,409
Middle Francis	Wasatch-Cache National Forest	3,296
Mt. Logan North	Wasatch-Cache National Forest	18,930
Mt. Logan South	Wasatch-Cache National Forest	17,014
Mt. Logan West	Wasatch-Cache National Forest	5,285
Mt. Naomi	Wasatch-Cache National Forest	41,922
Mt. Olympus	Wasatch-Cache National Forest	9,982
North Francis	Wasatch-Cache National Forest	8,148
Right Hand Fork Logan	Wasatch-Cache National Forest	15,023
Signal Peak	Fishlake National Forest	30,889
Wellsville	Wasatch-Cache National Forest	1,717

Virginia (5)

Area	Forest	Acres
Bear Creek	Jefferson National Forest	18,274
Gum Run	George Washington National Forest	12,620
Jerkemtight	George Washington National Forest	16,687
Little Alleghany	George Washington National Forest	10,215
Oak Knob	George Washington National Forest	10,882

Washington (7)

Area	Forest	Acres
Alpine Lakes Adj.	Wenatchee National Forest	57,104
Chelan	Wenatchee National Forest	74,650
Mt. Baker Noisy - Diobsud	Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest	56,039
Pressentin	Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest	14,545
Red Lake	Gifford Pinchot National Forest	2,162
South Quinault	Olympic National Forest	11,081
Thorp Mtn.	Wenatchee National Forest	22,717

West Virginia (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Dry River (WV)	George Washington National Forest	7,331

Wyoming (5)

Area	Forest	Acres
0401035	Ashley National Forest	5,465
0401036	Ashley National Forest	6,309
Middle Fork	Shoshone National Forest	51,772
Palisades	Targhee National Forest	1,121
West Slope Tetons	Targhee National Forest	47,448

References (23)

American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). Banks, R.C., C. Cicero, J. L. Dunn, A. W. Kratter, P. C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., J. A. Rising, and D. F. Stotz. 2003. Forty-fourth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 120(3):923-931.
Araya, B. and S. Chester. 1993. The birds of Chile. LATOUR, Santiago, Chile.
Banks, R. C., and M. R. Browning. 1995. Comments on the status of revived old names for some North American birds. Auk 112:633-648.
Baptista, L. F., P. W. Trail, and H. M. Horbilt. 1997. Columbidae. Pp. 60-245 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world. Volume 4. Sandgrouse to cuckoos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain.
BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
Braun, M. J., D. W. Finch, M. B. Robbins, and B. K. Schmidt. 2000. A field checklist of the birds of Guyana. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Droege, S., and J.R. Sauer. 1990. North American Breeding Bird Survey, annual summary, 1989. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Report 90(8). 22 pp.
Goodwin, D. 1983. Pigeons and doves of the world. Third edition. British Museum (Natural History), London, and Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca. 363 pp. [496 pp.?]
Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
Harrison, H. H. 1979. A field guide to western birds' nests. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 279 pp.
Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
Johnston, R. F. 1992. Evolution in the Rock Dove: Skeletal morphology. Auk 109(3):530-542.
Johnston, R. F., and S. G. Johnson. 1990. Reproductive ecology of feral pigeons. Pages 237-252 in J. Pinowski and J. D. Summers-Smith, editors. Granivorous birds in the agricultural landscape. Polish Scientific Publisher, Warszawa. 360 pp.
Narosky, T. and D. Yzurieta. 2003. Birds of Argentina and Uruguay. Asociación Ornitológica del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Poole, A. F. and F. B. Gill. 1992. The birds of North America. The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. and The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA.
Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 511 pp.
Ridgely, R. S. and J. A. Gwynne, Jr. 1989. A Guide to the Birds of Panama. 2nd edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, USA.
Stiles, F. G. and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. 511 pp.
Tansey, M. F., and R. P. Roth. 1970. Pigeons, a new role in air pollution. J. Air Pollution Control Assoc. 20: 307-309.
Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
Zook, J. L. 2002. Distribution maps of the birds of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Unpublished.