Rock pigeons: Common birds with a wide variety of color
(Photo by DON BARTLING)
Last week while traveling west on Pine Island road, south-west of Bonners Ferry, I noticed a group of medium sized birds gathered in a flock, they were walking or running on the ground and pecking for food by the railroad tracks. I noticed when alarmed, the flock would suddenly fly into the air and circle several times before landing on a power line or coming back to the ground again. The flock of birds was Rock Pigeons.
A common sight in Boundary County, Bonners Ferry and cities around the United States, Rock Pigeons are seen on public streets, hi-ways, barnyards and power lines, living on discarded food and grain from fields or dropped along the road way, where it scratches for seeds.
Rock pigeons also known as Domestic pigeons are one of the few birds that have a wide variety of colors, produced by years of selective breeding while in captivity. Parents feed their young a regurgitated liquid called crop-milk for the first few days of life. The Rock pigeon is one of the few birds that can drink without tilting its head back.
The Rock Pigeon is larger and plumper than a mourning dove they are tubby birds with small heads and short legs. Their wings are broad but pointed and the tail is wide and rounded. Their color pattern is variable, but most birds are bluish gray with black bands on the wing and a black tip on the tail. Most birds have iridescent throat feathers. Wing patterns may include two bars, dark spots, or they can be plain. Their tail is usually dark tipped.
Pigeons peck at food on the ground and drink by placing their bill in water, using it like a straw. Usually the Rock Pigeon mates for life. A male pigeon courts his mate by bowing, cooing, inflating his throat, and strutting in a circle around the female. The pair may preen one another and the male may grasp the female’s bill, regurgitating food as a courtship gesture. The male incubates the eggs from mid-morning to late afternoon; while the female takes her turn in late afternoon and overnight to mid-morning. Both parents brood the young and feed them by regurgitating a milky liquid secreted by the lining of the birds’ crops.
Rock Pigeons diet consists mostly of seeds. In Boundary County they feed on waste grain, seeds of many grasses and other plants, sometimes berries and earthworms or insects. In cities they live largely on bread crumbs, popcorn, or other food provided by humans.
Natural nesting sites for the pigeons in the country are on sheltered cliff ledges. In cities and around human dwellings, pigeons use artificial replacements such as window ledges of tall buildings, barn lofts, and rain gutters. ests are usually made of a platform of twigs and grass. The nests are built by the female with supplies provided by the male. The nests are from a platform of twigs and grass. The pair may use the same site repeatedly, adding to the nest each year.
The Rock Pigeon has 1-2 eggs without markings per brood and 3-4 broods per year. The incubation period is 18-20 days with the fledging period being 25-26 days. They were introduced to North America from Europe in the early 1600’s. Rock Pigeons generally do not migrate.
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