Youre strolling through the city streets when you feel a subtle splat on your shoulder. You look down to see a brownish-green glob on your coat. Pigeon poo. Search for, and youll find a row of quietly cooing birds perched on the window ledge. Among them eyes you, inquisitive..
City dwellers everywhere have experienced some version of this unpleasant encounter. Whether youre strolling through Central Park, or a historic city square in Prague, or along the shore of Sydney Harbor– if theres a city, there are pigeons..
These birds are so common that we human beings do not pay them much observe. Have you ever stopped to question where the humble pigeon came from?
What Exactly Is a Pigeon, Anyway?
These are easy concerns, however the responses are more complex than you may think..
The initial pigeon, if you will, is a types understood as the rock dove, Columba livia. Like other doves and pigeons species, the rock dove belongs to the Columbidae household. Its closest relative is the similar-looking hill pigeon, Columba rupestris..
The plumage pattern of a wild rock dove. A number of these birds have hybridised with feral pigeons. © Ingrid V. Taylar/ Flickr.
The rock dove is the wild ancestor of the domestic pigeon, Columba livia domestica. Humans have actually kept and selectively domestic pigeons for thousands of years, leading to more than 1,000 various types. Some varieties have such unusual plumage that they look about as comparable to their wild ancestor as a poodle does to a wolf..
The birds you see pecking, strutting, cooing, and pooing throughout the worlds cities are feral pigeons. These birds, which form the bulk of the worlds pigeon population, are a hybrid of the initial rock dove and domestic pigeons..
Over the centuries, escapee domestic birds added their eclectic genes back into the wild population, which is why feral pigeons been available in a variety of colors. In one flock you can find birds that are snowy white, dark black, orange-brown, or a combination of any of these colors..
A feral pigeon. © Jo Garbutt/ Flickr.
Wild rock doves have a constant and distinct plumage pattern. They have orange eyes, pink feet, and white ceres at the top of their costs.
There are in between 260 and 400 million pigeons worldwide, and the vast majority of them are domestic or feral birds. Wild rock dove populations are threatened by inbreeding with feral birds, and some ornithologists think that there are couple of, if any, true rock dove populations left..
Many feral pigeons have the exact same plumage pattern as wild rock doves, so hybridization isnt something you can tell by sight alone. Just DNA analysis can conclusively determine how much hybridization has actually taken place in a population, and many populations stay under-studied.
The purest rock dove populations most likely exist on overseas islands in Europe and the Mediterranean, where geographical barriers lower hybridization. Current DNA analysis by UK researchers found that rock doves on the Outer Hebrides, offshore from Scotland, revealed very little hybridization with feral pigeons..
Feral pigeons Times Square, New York City. © Victoria Pickering/ Flickr.
Where Did They Come From?
Today, “wild type” rock doves are found throughout southern Europe, north Africa, the Middle East, and central and western Asia. While their metropolitan equivalents nest on high-rise buildings, wild rock doves nest on cliff faces and in caverns..
Archeological proof suggests that both Neanderthals and later Homo sapiens consumed rock doves for food. Mentions of pigeon husbandry on artifacts from Mesopotamia and in Egyptian hieroglyphics indicate we humans domesticated the types– for use as a food source– by a minimum of 4,500 BC.
Pigeons that are caught, moved, and released will fly back to their coops, even if theyre hundreds of miles away from house. Called a “homing impulse,” this behavior has actually permitted human beings to use pigeons to orient sailors towards land and to deliver messages over great ranges.
Eventually, chickens ended up being the avian meat of choice in much of the world, and reproducing domestic pigeons transitioned from food production to a hobby activity. Pigeon lovers developed numerous different breeds, with fanciful names– the Arabian Trumpeter, Fairy Swallow, Danish Jacobin– with plumage and colors to match..
Charles Darwin, studied and bred domestic pigeons for years, and– although the Galapagos finches hog all the credit– the intricacies of pigeon breeding helped notify Darwins ideas on evolution..
1 of 3Illustrations of domestic pigeon types from a book: “A treatise on the art of breeding and managing tame, domesticated, foreign, and elegant pigeons.” 1737. © John Matthews Eaton & & John Moore/ Wikimedia Commons2 of 3Illustrations of domestic pigeon breeds from a book: “A treatise on the art of reproducing and handling tame, domesticated, foreign, and elegant pigeons.” 1737. © John Matthews Eaton & & John Moore/ Wikimedia Commons3 of 3Illustrations of domestic pigeon types from a book: “A writing on the art of breeding and managing tame, domesticated, foreign, and fancy pigeons.” 1737. © John Matthews Eaton & & John Moore/ Wikimedia Commons.
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Why Are Pigeons Everywhere?
Today, feral pigeons are found on every continent other than Antarctica. Theyre one of a handful of types to hold that distinction, together with birds like the house sparrow, cattle egret, peregrine falcon, osprey, common starling, and barn owl..
European colonists brought domestic pigeons to the Americas at some point between 1600 and 1610, after which escappee birds established feral populations. A comparable circumstance happened in Australia, where European settlers imported domestic pigeons in the 1870s..
The original pigeon, if you will, is a types understood as the rock dove, Columba livia. Like other doves and pigeons types, the rock dove is part of the Columbidae family. Many of these birds have hybridised with feral pigeons. The rock dove is the wild forefather of the domestic pigeon, Columba livia domestica. And theres the irony: We people hold pigeons in little esteem, calling them “rats with wings,” putting up spikes to keep them from nesting on our buildings, and complaining the periodic unintentional accessory with pigeon poo.
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Unlike their wild counterparts, feral pigeons have a commensal relationship with individuals. They choose to live alongside us, in our cities or farming areas, taking advantage of the metropolitan habitat we create and the food sources we offer. Feral pigeons are not likely to wander far from human settlement, even when there is adequate space to roam..
And theres the paradox: We people hold pigeons in little esteem, calling them “rats with wings,” erecting spikes to keep them from nesting on our structures, and regreting the occasional accidental adornment with pigeon poo. We have no one to blame however ourselves. Why are pigeons everywhere? Since of us..
