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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.
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.
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]
Rock pigeons are thought to be one of the first domesticated birds, raised for both their meat and their message-carrying ability.
In Wendell Levi's book The Pigeon, reference is made to pigeons with this tumbling ability existing in India before the year 1590. Charles Darwin, in his book The Origin of Species , makes reference to the Short-faced Tumbler which was a popular breed during his lifetime, and still can be found exhibited at pigeon shows today.
The speckled pigeon (Columba guinea), also African rock pigeon or Guinea pigeon, is a pigeon that is a resident breeding bird in much of Africa south of the Sahara.It is a common and widespread species in open habitats over much of its range, although there are sizable gaps in its distribution.
This is an alphabetical list of pigeon breeds; these are exclusively breeds of the domestic pigeon (Columba livia domestica). Other Columbidae species (e.g., the Barbary dove , Streptopelia risoria ) have been domesticated and developed into breeds, but these are generally simple colour variations of the plumage .
The white-quilled rock pigeon is a large mid-brown to reddish-brown pigeon.It has wings measuring 122 to 145 mm and a bill 11.0 to 14.5 mm in length. Subspecies albipennis weighs 117 to 156 grams while the smaller subspecies boothi weighs between 103 and 142 grams. [3]