I have been reading great reports of interesting fall migrants on Monhegan Island and at other migration hotspots.\u00a0 Any Maine birder would be thrilled to see a White-eyed Vireo or a Lark Sparrow, both of which have been reported this autumn.\u00a0 But there is pleasure in seeing the everyday birds as well, even pigeons.<\/p>\n
The standardized name for our pigeon is Rock Pigeon.\u00a0 They are well known to birders and non-birders alike.\u00a0\u00a0 How can you avoid seeing pigeons in any city?<\/p>\n
Wild Rock Doves were likely found from Scandinavia south through most of Europe, and further south to equatorial West Africa.\u00a0 Wild populations likely occurred in Russia south to Pakistan and India in Asia.\u00a0 We will never know the full range of wild Rock Doves because these birds were first domesticated 5,000 years ago.\u00a0 Captive pigeons were transported around the world.\u00a0 Domesticated birds readily become feral, hence the pigeon populations in your local park or on farms.<\/p>\n
Wild Rock Doves nest in crevices and caves on rocky cliffs near short, shrub vegetation.\u00a0 Feral pigeons in North America also occur in similar types of habitats, where tall buildings substitute for cliffs.<\/p>\n
In North America, the first domesticated pigeons were brought to Atlantic coastal villages in the early 17th<\/sup> century.\u00a0 These domesticated pigeons gave rise to feral populations, which have spread across the continent.\u00a0 Rock Doves now occur throughout all of the 49 continental states, the southern portion of all the Canadian provinces and throughout Central America and the West Indies.<\/p>\n Among wild populations, nine subspecies have been described.\u00a0 The differences among subspecies are based on color and size.\u00a0 However, these differences in color bear no relationship to the feral pigeons we see.\u00a0 Through domestication, pigeon fanciers have bred Rock Doves for particular colors and plumage anomalies.\u00a0 These variants, called sports, were prized by upper crust British gentlemen in Victorian England.\u00a0 Charles Darwin was a pigeon fancier.<\/p>\n Careful study of pigeons can be a rewarding experience.\u00a0 A number of interesting behaviors are associated with nesting.\u00a0 Pigeons mate for life.\u00a0 Eggs may be laid as early as February and as late as October.\u00a0 From a thorough study of pigeons in Kansas, we know some birds have over six nests per year.\u00a0 That\u2019s some serious dedication to family life!<\/p>\n The formation of the life-long pair bond occurs through a series of displays.\u00a0 This courtship begins with a bout of bowing and cooing, in which the male stands erect, inflates his crop, fans his tail and struts around in a circle.\u00a0 He bows his head and neck while giving a coo<\/span> call.<\/p>\n The next stage in courtship is heteropreening (literally preening the other) or nibbling.\u00a0 The male preens the female first and then the female returns the favor.\u00a0 Next, the female solicits food from the male.\u00a0 The male obliges by regurgitating seeds from his crop.<\/p>\n The female then accepts the advances of the male.\u00a0 She crouches with her wings half-raised and mating takes place, lasting only a second or two.<\/p>\n After mating, the male gives a display in which he stands erect and walks a few steps.\u00a0 He then launches into a display flight in which the wings are clapped together twice above the back.<\/p>\n Aggressive interactions also take place with characteristic displays.\u00a0 When a male approaches another male\u2019s mate, particularly if the female is receptive, the female\u2019s mate may crouch and shift the position of its wings.\u00a0 This behavior conveys aggression.\u00a0 The intruder may be pecked on the head.\u00a0 Other intruders may be driven, a behavior involving a type of chasing in which the intruder is literally pushed away.<\/p>\n The male may also give a threat display by standing horizontally, inflating its crop and walking around in circles.\u00a0 As the male walks, it gives a display call and raises its wings.<\/p>\n [First published on September 30, 2012]<\/p>\n\n I have been reading great reports of interesting fall migrants on Monhegan Island and at other migration hotspots.\u00a0 Any Maine birder would be thrilled to see a White-eyed Vireo or a Lark Sparrow, both of which have been reported this autumn.\u00a0 But there is pleasure in seeing the everyday birds as well, even pigeons. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[420],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":531,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530\/revisions\/531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}