Order: Columbiformes

Family:  Columbidae

Scientific name: Columba livia, Gmelin, 1789

IUCN Red list status- Least Concern

Did you know?

  1. Blue Rock Pigeon is also known as Common Pigeon and Rock Dove.
  2. Blue Rock Pigeon has the ability to drink water directly without turning their head backwards like other birds

Description

Blue Rock Pigeon is 29 to 37 cm long and weighs 238–380 gms. It has a dark bluish-grey head, neck, and chest with glossy yellowish, greenish, and reddish-purple iridescence along its neck and wing feathers. The iris is orange, red, or golden with a paler inner ring, and the bare skin round the eye is bluish-grey. The bill is grey-black with a conspicuous off-white cere, and the feet are purplish-red. The adult female is almost identical to the male, but the iridescence on her neck is less intense and more restricted to the rear and sides, while that on the breast is often not clear. The lower back of the Blue Rock Pigeon is its best identification character; the two black bars on its pale grey wings are also distinctive. The tail has a black band on the end and the outer web of the tail feathers are margined with white. Young birds show little lustre and are duller. The Blue Rock Pigeon can also be seen in wide variety of Colours.

Diet

The Blue Rock Pigeon eats a wide variety of seeds. It may also eat some insects and plants. In cities, rock pigeons eat seeds, peanuts, popcorn and a variety of items from humans. The Blue Rock Pigeon feeds on the ground in groups or individually in day time. Juveniles and fed with ‘Pigeons Milk’ or ‘Crop Milk’ which is produced in the crops of both parents. The Parents regurgitate the milk to young ones mouth.

Habitat

The Blue rock pigeon is common in Towns, Cities and Villages. The can be found in Parks, Temple, Churches etc. They are also found in rocky cliffs, farm land, parks, gardens, cities, and suburbs. In India they are distributed throughout union. They are also seen in Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

Reproductive Behaviour

Blue Rock Pigeon breeds at any time of the year, but peak times are spring and summer. Nesting sites are along coastal cliff faces, as well as the artificial cliff faces created by apartment buildings with accessible ledges or roof spaces. The nest is a flimsy platform of straw and sticks, laid on a ledge, under cover, often on the window ledges of buildings. Normally Two white eggs are laid. Incubation of 17 to 19 days is shared by both parents.

Call

Call is a deep “gootr-goo-gootr-goo-gootr-goo”.

Related Species and Sub Species

  • Nilgiri Wood Pigeon (Columba elphinstonii).
  • Purple Wood Pigeon (Columba punicea).
  • Columba livia intermedia of Sri Lanka and India.
  • Columba livia nigricans of Mongolia and North China.

Migratory Behaviour

Non Migratory, Common Resident