Friday, October 9, 2009

Various forms of Domestic Pigeon

Rock Pigeon Columba livia is originally from North Africa and Eurasia, now worldwide as an introduced species.

Pure stock are predominantly grey with noticeably darker hood and breast, blackish tail-tip and paler wing-coverts with two broad blackish bars. Neck glossed green and purple. Feral stock may be highly variable with patches of white and brown in plumage, some are entirely blackish. (Robson 2008).

For the birds on Borneo, the name Feral Pigeon may be more appropriate as Borneo population are clearly all feral and not deriving from wild Rock Dove populations. Interbreeding of various feral forms, and in the past wild forms, makes it impossible to designate a subspecies. (Mann 2008)

The pictures below show the various form occurring in Sabah. 

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Happy birding.

REFERENCES 
Mann, C.F. (2008) The birds of Borneo, an annotated Checklist. Peterbourough, UK: British Ornithologists' Union.

Robson, C. (2008) A field guide to the birds of South-East Asia. London: New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd.

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