Bird Blurbs - Rock pigeons

This week’s Bird Blurb is about rock pigeons.

Rock pigeons are around a foot long and 9-13 oz. They have a wide range of colors due to their history of being bred by humans. In the past, they were used for racing, homing, and carrying messages, as well as being bred for food or research purposes. Eventually, we stopped using them as much, and they began to adapt to living in our cities. They span over the entire United States and a bit into Canada, as well as into Mexico. Some pigeons live fully in the wild, residing along coasts and inland mountains. However, these guys are much rarer than city pigeons. Rock pigeons lay 1-2 eggs, and once they hatch, both parents feed the chicks “pigeon milk”, a cottage cheese-like substance that the parents produce in their crop (a sort of pre-stomach). This is something I learned while researching and now all of you get to know this information as well. You’re welcome. Rock pigeons are listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, but human destruction of pigeon nests decreases their population.

Thank you so much for reading this Bird Blurb, and if there is a specific bird you would like me to cover, feel free to reach out!

Savannah P.

Sources: 

Rock pigeon. (2014, November 3). Audubon. https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/rock-pigeon?int_src=site_search&int_query=pigeon