A domestic pigeon with blue-grey plumage.

Domestic pigeon.

Creator: Trachemys

Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0

View image source

Species record

Domestic Pigeon

Columba livia domestica

Explore the Domestic Pigeon (Columba livia domestica) species record in The Ark Is Earth, including classification, habitat, distribution, conservation information, and sources.

Summary

The Domestic Pigeon is the domesticated form of the Rock Dove, Columba livia. People have bred pigeons for food, messages, racing, and companionship for thousands of years. Feral and free-flying domestic pigeons now live in cities and towns around the world, while wild Rock Doves retain native cliff and coastal populations.

Classification in this archive

  1. Kingdom: Animals
  2. Phylum: Chordates
  3. Subphylum: Vertebrates
  4. Class: Birds
  5. Order: Columbiformes
  6. Family: Columbidae
  7. Genus: Columba
  8. Species: Columba livia

Habitat and distribution

Selected documented locations — not a complete species range.

Habitat
lofts, urban areas, farms
Selected regions
Europe, North America, Asia
Selected countries
Belgium, United Kingdom, United States, India

Conservation status

The Ark records: Not evaluated.

Did you know?

  • Experienced homing pigeons can follow memorized routes using landmarks alone.
  • Rock doves and feral pigeons can have many different appearance patterns.

More images

A domestic pigeon photographed in Portofino, Italy.

Domestic pigeon in Portofino, Italy.

Creator: Hayden Soloviev

Licence: CC BY 4.0

View image source

Sources and attribution