BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Columba livia
Rock Pigeon
| Scientific Name: | Columba livia Gmelin, 1789 | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | Rock Pigeon | ||||||||||
| English Name Synonyms: |
Rock Dove
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| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - 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/. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | B-ROPI | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Apr 2016) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | SNA (Mar 2015) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Exotic | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 7 - Exotic (2005) | ||||||||||
| Migratory Bird Convention Act: | |||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | 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). | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
Y / N / N / na / |
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| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | 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). | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Granivore: Adult, Immature
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | Eats mainly seeds; also bits of vegetation and refuse. | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: |
Diurnal: Adult, Immature
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| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 32/ / 542 | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | Native to Eurasia. Introduced and established throughout most of world. | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | Hammerson, G. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Jan 25, 1994 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp. |
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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. |
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Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, et al. 1990b. The Birds of British Columbia Vol. 2: Nonpasserines: Diurnal Birds of Prey through Woodpeckers. Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, BC. |
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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. |
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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.?] |
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Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio. |
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Harrison, H. H. 1979. A field guide to western birds' nests. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 279 pp. |
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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. |
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Tansey, M. F., and R. P. Roth. 1970. Pigeons, a new role in air pollution. J. Air Pollution Control Assoc. 20: 307-309. |
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Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1994. Species Summary: Columba livia. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 10, 2026).