Pigeons and doves constitute the bird family Columbidae, which include some 300 species of near passerines. In general, dove and pigeon are almost the same. Their names are used interchangeably. And historically the common names for these birds involve a lot of variations. However, there is a tendency for dove to be used for smaller species and pigeon for larger ones. This family of bords occurs worldwide, but the greatest variety is in the Indomalaya and Australasia ecozones.
Pigeons and doves are stout-bodied birds with short necks, and have short slender bills with a fleshy cere. The species commonly referred to just as “pigeon” is the feral Rock Pigeon, common in many cities.
Doves and pigeons build flimsy nests from debris, which may be placed in trees, on ledges or on the ground, depending on species. They lay one or maybe two eggs, and both parents care for the young, which leave the nest after 7 to 28 days. Doves feed on seeds, fruit and plants. Unlike most other birds, the doves and pigeons produce milk, which is secreted by a sloughing of fluid-filled cells from the lining of the crop. Both sexes produce highly nutritious substance to feed to the baby.
Pigeons and doves are distributed everywhere, except for the driest areas of the Sahara Desert, Antarctica and its surrounding islands and the high Arctic. They have colonised most of the world’s oceanic islands, reaching eastern Polynesia and the Chatham Islands in the Pacific, Mauritius, the Seychelles.
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