British Pigeon Identifier

I identify species pigeons (and Doves), especially those from the British Isles. Currently suffering through exams.

[pigeonidentifier]

FAQ

Q. Why British pigeons? A. I am only familiar with, and thus can accurately identify, British species of pigeon.

Q. Can you identify non-british pigeons? A. I will certainly attempt to but may be less accurate.

Q. What's the difference between doves and pigeons? A. Nothing scientifically, and I treat them the same, however culturally the names are associated with different things.

Q. You got a name wrong. A. I'm working of imperfect memory and sometimes I swap the word pigeon with dove (and vice versa), please be merciful.

Q. You incorrectly identified a pigeon. A. I'm sorry :(

Q. Favourite species of pigeon? A. Eurasian collared dove.

Q. Is the Dodo a pigeon? A. Yes! It is!

Q. Who's asking these questions? This post was made before anyone saw your blog? A. The voices in my head.

[animal-ratings]

PIGEON

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Highly intelligent bird domesticated by humans thousands of years ago! Capable of recognizing human faces and navigating across huge distances using Earth’s magnetic field, the sun, and visual landmarks! Yet love parking lots. Once widely used to deliver messages, including during wars! Produces nutrient-rich “crop milk” to feed young, something very few birds can do

Abandoned by humanity, yet still hangs around us anyway…

[pigeonidentifier]

That specific pigeon is, in fact, a feral pigeon!

The term "feral pigeon" is used for pigeons there are descended from domesticated pigeons, yet live in the wild. This is quite clear from the context of the post.

This specific pigeon descended from a rock dove, the species which most domestic pigeons originated from. This is seen quite clearly in the birds very typical rock dove appearance, being mostly grey with black bars on its wings.

[todaysbird]

i think this is…actually the most extreme stupid dove nest I’ve seen.

video

[kaiapraxidike]

[pigeonidentifier]

It's a tad tough to tell from that angle and in that lighting, however I am going to say that bird appears to be a feral pigeon.

Feral pigeons, descended from domestic pigeons, have a large variety of patterns, because people like birds with lots of patterns, and the colouration seen here is a common one with domestic/feral pigeons. I assume the pigeon isn't domestic because I find it unlikely that a domestic pigeon would be attempting to nest somewhere so unsafe.

Unrelated, however I do hope it wasn't hurt; I don't know much about bird behaviour so I don't know how unreasonable that hope is.

[pngblog]

[pigeonidentifier]

You'll have to forgive me for any inaccuracies, a lot of these are outside my geographical specialisation. I'll be going left to right top to bottom, as how a book written in english is read.

First is the African Collared Dove. It's roughly the size and shape that one would expect of such a bird. In addition the black collar on its neck is quite distinctive. It could also be a Eurasian collared dove, however I believe it more likely to be African as there is a higher contrast between the breast and the wings, which appear to be more common on African collared doves.

The next three are either Domestic Pigeons or Feral Pigeons, I can't say which without more information. Whilst they do very a lot, their colouration appears to be consistent with domestic pigeons, which often have been selectively bread for varied colours. Specifically the markings on the wings and iridescent neck are what lead me to this conclusion.

The next one is outside my range of expertise, however from researching pigeons, I believe it to be a Morning Dove. From what I can see about the morning dove, the white colouration around the eyes and black spots on the wings are indicators of this being a mourning dove.

The next four are quite typical feral pigeons or domestic pigeons, although more likely feral pigeons as, overall, they're more common.

And the final pigeon appears to be a domestic pigeon, It could be a feral pigeon but the crown and feathers around the legs are things I see more often on domesticated pigeons. It's pretty much conjecture, as I am no expert, but that's my analysis. I would like to go into more detail but unfortunately I cannot identify specific breeds of domestic pigeon.

[pigeondove-tourney]

Tumblr's official best pigeon is:

The humble rock dove!

2nd place: Mourning dove. 3rd place: Luzon bleeding-heart

Bonus winners per category under the cut!

Voted best extinct species (by process of elimination): Passenger pigeon

Voted best bleeding-heart (by process of elimination): Luzon bleeding-heart

Voted best wood pigeon (by process of elimination): Speckled wood pigeon

Voted best crowned pigeon (by process of elimination): Sclater's crowned pigeon

Voted best turtle dove (by process of elimination): Oriental turtle dove

Voted best olive pigeon (by process of elimination): Cameroon olive pigeon

Voted best bronzewing (by process of elimination): Brush bronzewing

Voted best green pigeon (by process of elimination): Pink-necked green pigeon

Voted best wood dove (by process of elimination): Emerald-spotted wood dove

Voted best ground dove (by process of elimination): Blue-eyed ground dove

Voted best fruit dove (by process of elimination): Rose-crowned fruit dove

Voted best blue pigeon (by process of elimination): Madagascar blue pigeon

Voted best imperial pigeon (via a special bonus poll): Rufescent imperial pigeon/Spectacled imperial pigeon (I'm too lazy to break that tie)

Voted best quail-dove (via a special bonus poll): White-fronted quail-dove

Voted best cuckoo-dove (via a special bonus poll): White-faced cuckoo-dove

[pigeonidentifier]

If you follow me I'm fairly sure you've seen this already, but please see it again.

[birdsonstatueheads]

Pigeons on the Statue Head of the Fountain of Saint Eulàlia, Barcelona, Spain

Plaça del Pedró, Barcelona, Spain 10 April 2024 Photo taken with iPhone 8

The Fountain of Saint Eulàlia (Font de Santa Eulàlia) is one of the city's oldest commemorative monuments. It was erected between 1668 and 1672 in the square where Saint Eulàlia is believed to have been crucified, which is why the statue depicts her holding the symbols of her martyrdom.

The monument was converted into a fountain by Josep Mas i Vila (1779-1856) in 1826, and was restored by Frederic Marès (1893-1991), who also restored the statue of Canon Francesc Rodó is Sala, after it was destroyed in the 1936 Civil War in 1952.

Who was Saint Eulàlia?

Eulàlia of Barcelona (c. 284-303), who is now the co-patron saint of Barcelona, was a 13-year-old Roman Christian virgin who was crucified during the Diocletian Persecution of Christians. She was believed to have been the daughter of a noble family and was martyred when she confronted the governor Dacian about the Christian persecution.

Birds on Statue Heads is an ongoing digital archive project run by Maggie Blaha. If you’d like to contribute your own photos to the archive and have them shared here on the blog, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/yWhZicX7T3yCtKNr8

[pigeonidentifier]

Feral pigeons!

If one zooms in on the image you can see the black bars on the wings that are distinctive of feral pigeons. Additionally they are roughly the right size. Coming from domestic birds, feral pigeons often have varying patterns on their feathers, as to why the other two look different.

[w0-2013-365]

098/26

hello there

[pigeonidentifier]

The white markings on the neck show that this is a wood pigeon!

They normally live in the woods, but as of recently I've learned not always!

[chennnington]

#mystick

[pigeonidentifier]

Wood pigeon!

The white marking on the neck is a distinctive characteristic of wood pigeons. As the name suggests, they live in the woods.

[pigeonidentifier]

hello! i think your blog is very cute. here are some pictures i took of feral pigeons in downtown pittsburgh, US. brown/white/frankenstein patterns are my fav :-]

Thank you! These birds are beautiful and seeing them has brought me joy!

[robotbackwards]

mwah

[pigeonidentifier]

These are feral pigeons.

Feral pigeons are domestic pigeons that have been released to the wild (due to the sudden loss of popularity of pigeons as pets, unfortunate really). Domestic pigeons themselves originate from Rock Doves.

Fun fact, pigeons do actually kiss each other when they are in a relationship (pigeons are monogamous and pair for life (ok not all pigeons but these specific pigeons do (not because I know them personally (I don't) but they're feral pigeons (assuming my identification is correct (it may not be, they're not British (I think)) and that specific species of pigeon pairs for life (also wow that's a lot of brackets (I am quite fond of brackets (can you tell (ok now I'm doing it intentionally))))))))

I kind of lost the purpose of my writing in those brackets. I believe the gist of what I wanted to communicate is that it's quite possible that they are actually kissing each other because they love each other and it's not a mere illusion, which is cute!

[tumblirding]

ok this isn't really a huge update or anything, but PIGEON CUDDLE. PIGEON CUDDLE I REPEAT THIS IS NOT A DRILL. That is all

Ok who knows if this was actually a pigeon cuddle because as they were huddled against each other this turned into a preening session where one was aggressively trying to preen the other and one was extremely annoyed, but still an adorable thing to come across in the wild. Im guessing parent and child or maybe siblings. Maybe neither! What do YOU think?

Have a good day

-Loon

Count: 132

[pigeonidentifier]

Feral pigeons, both of them!

They are grey, one has black bars on its wings, they're probably not domestic because they are outside, thus I can conclude that they're feral pigeons!

Lovely friendly birds, they don't deserve the hatred they get from a lot of people.

Also, whilst I am no expert on pigeon behaviour, it is possible (my limited knowledge supports this) that they are a couple. Feral pigeons pair for life so they may be the pigeon equivalent of a married couple. That being said I am biased towards this conclusion (I find the idea of pigeons being in love adorable) so it could really be anything.

Truly wonderful birds in any case!

[kaffee-kafka]

[pigeonidentifier]

That is most likely a feral pigeon.

A feral pigeon is the name given to pigeons whom descend from domestic pigeons. Most domestic pigeon populations, and thus feral pigeon populations, originate from the Rock Dove. I can tell it originates from a rock dove as the black markings on its wings are quite distinctive. In addition I can conclude it's not a rock dove based on the environment (additionally wild rock dove populations are exceedingly rare), and it is most likely not domestic as it's not inside a cage. In addition domestic pigeons are (also) quite rare.

They are lovely friendly birds and people should be kind to them.

[xd001-arts]

nebbie <3

[pigeonidentifier]

Referring to the first image because the second one is likely not a pigeon.

I'll be honest, I'm not entirely sure what kind of pigeon that is. The black markings on the end of its wings indicate a loose relation to the Rock Dove, supported by it's grey colouration and iridescent neck.

However, the number of legs along with their position is highly atypical for rock doves (or any pigeon for that matter). The green eyes are also quite atypical. For these reasons, as well as the fact it has paws, I suspect it may be part cat? (the specific type of cat is impossible for me to identify, to be honest I don't even know if there are different types of cats, they are somewhat homogeneous, at least to my eyes).

I'm reasonably sure this is part pigeon because of its distinct pigeon-like colouration, but if I'm wrong then please do forgive me.

Oh also it's tagged Pigeon, which is both how I found this post and why I assumed it's part pigeon. Oops. How did I forget that?

[wickedwanderingworm]

kinda outta focus pigeon

[pigeonidentifier]

That is a wood pigeon!

The white spots on the neck are quite distinctive, thusly making them incredibly easy to identify. They're lovely birds and, if I may be so personal, they bring a smile to my face every time I see one.

[bluelobster-offical]

Pigeon

boots

[pigeonidentifier]

That is a domestic pigeon!

You can tell because only rock doves and pigeons originating from rock doves have those distinctive black markings on the wings, wild rock doves are exceedingly rare due to mixing with feral dove populations

I assume this is a domestic pigeon (which do originate from rock doves) because it is wearing wellies, and that is a very domestic thing to do.

[saltinasketches]

Pigeon.

[pigeonidentifier]

Domestic pigeon, descended from rock doves!

Yes I know it’s plastic but it’s real in my heart.

[pigeonidentifier]

Hi!! I found this one in Washington DC with a friend! Thoughts? :>

Thanks for the question!

The bottom one is most certainly a feral pigeon, descended from a Rock dove! It’s quite distinctively so as well.

This can be seen in the black bars on the wings, in addition, I can say it’s definitely not a wild rock dove as they do not exist in either North nor South America.

The top pigeon is less obviously descended from the rock dove (just because the bottom one is so similar to the source bird) but it is still most likely a feral pigeon from the same origin, just with different pattern, which is rather common among domestic pigeons.

(Please forgive me for identifying them in an atypical order, I found the bottom bird quite eye-catching so felt a need to talk about it first)