Volume 45, Number 2, December 1998:
Feral Pigeons

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ABOUT THIS ISSUE
- about KSN
- about the author

IN THIS ISSUE
- introduction
- origin of feral pigeons
- basic plumages
- mate choice and plumages
- advantages of different plumages
- advantages of choosing different mates
- breeding seasons
- reproducative data
- brood reduction
- living in colonies
- commuter pigeons
- relationships with people
- reference

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Updated: March 9, 2005
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Feral Pigeons
by Richard F. Johnston

ORIGIN OF FERAL PIGEONS

Old World rock doves were domesticated at least 5,000 years ago. This makes them the first bird species to have been so treated by humans; even the jungle fowl has a shorter history. Rock doves were brought into captivity initially for culinary and religious purposes, but artificial selection by humans soon produced variants that could be employed in other ways. For instance, by 3,000 years ago pigeons were being bred not only for the table but for delivering messages and for racing. The basis of selective breeding was genetic variation resulting from mutations concerning size, shape, color, behavior, physiology, and just about any other characteristic that can be imagined. Rock doves thus became domestic pigeons, and since then their care and breeding have been a focus of human attention.

What is not generally recognized, however, is that when domestic pigeons escaped from captivity they formed a new, free-living biological entity, the feral pigeon. Such birds are often called "domestic pigeons" but they are not domestics; neither are they wild rock doves. Ferals are distinctly different, with their own characteristics that set them apart from their domestic and wild ancestors. We still call them Columba livia, but they are special pigeons.

Feral pigeon colonies possibly could have been formed as early as 5,000 years ago. Most such enclaves are younger, however, and some are very recent. The first feral colonies in North America developed only 400 years ago, after European settlers brought domestic pigeons with them to Nova Scotia in 1606. A later introduction in 1796 brought pigeons to the Hawaiian Islands, and countless others have allowed feral populations to develop in most places in the world. Some populations are evidently distinct - for example, 80% of the birds in Honolulu, Hawaii, are in white plumage - but all can be shown to be in some degree different from both their wild and domestic ancestors. Some of those differences are examined here.