Domestic Pigeon | Rock Dove or Rock Pigeon | Pigeon Breeds

Domestic Pigeon is a subspecies of ‘Rock Dove’ which is generally called “Rock Pigeon”. Rock Pigeon is an ancient domesticated bird in the world. Mesopotamian Cuneiform Tablets has stated the domestication of such pigeons over 5,000 years ago. However, research shows the domestication of pigeons about 10,000 years ago.

Contribution to Humans’ Life

The pigeons have an extraordinary contribution to humans’ life, particularly during war. Owing to their homing capability, these pigeons were used as messengers to communicate messages during the war. These pigeons carried a lot of important messages from one place to another during the war and some have been adorned for their services. A number of medals were awarded to the pigeons for their services of saving humans’ life in war.

Reproduction

The domestic pigeons are bred similarly as ‘wild rock pigeons’. Usually, humans select breeding couples. The crop milk or pigeon milk produced by both male and female parent birds may infrequently be replaced with artificial alternatives. The pigeons are very protective of their eggs. Sometimes, they go to severe extents for safeguarding their eggs and seeking vengeance on those who disturb their production process. The baby pigeons are known as “squeakers” or “squabs”.

Homing Pigeons

The trained domestic pigeons can return their homes if they released from a location, 1000 Km away from home, which they have never visited before. The homing pigeon is an extraordinary breed produced through selective breeding. The breed is used for carrying messages from one place to another. Some members of this breed are now being utilized in pigeon sports comprising pigeon racing and white release dove ceremony at weddings & funerals.

The capability of a pigeon to return home from an unvisited location requires two types of information. First, the ‘map-sense’ which is their geographic location. Second, the ‘compass sense’ they want to fly from their new sites to reach home. Both these senses respond to numerous dissimilar cues in different circumstances. The most prevalent idea of how pigeons are capable to do this is that they are capable of intellect the Earth's magnetic field with small magnetic tissues of their heads.

Pigeon Breeding for Food

Domestic Pigeons are also kept for their meat, generally called squab and picked from young birds. These pigeons develop to a large size in the nest before starting a flight. To get meat from the pigeons for commercial purposes, a large white pigeon breed called “King pigeon” is developed through selective breeding. The pigeons that are produced for getting their meat are known as “Utility Pigeons”.

Exhibition Breeds

The pigeon-fanciers produced various interesting breeds of the pigeons. These are generally categorized as “Fancy Pigeons”. The pigeon fanciers participate in the shows to compete with each other and to judge the quality standard of birds they possess and exhibit in shows. A large number of attractive pigeon breeds including “Duchess” participate in the shows. These pigeons have very distinctive feet which are entirely covered by the feathers. Besides this, “Fantail Pigeons” are very attractive for their fan-shaped tail feathers.

Flying and Sporting

Some enthusiasts of birds also kept pigeons for Flying purposes or Sporting competitions as a source of their enjoyment. The breeds for instance “Tipplers” are flown in endurance competitions by their possessors.

Pigeon Breeds

Fancy Pigeons

Fancy pigeon is a domesticated breed of “Wild Rock Dove”. Fancy pigeons have been bred by the fanciers for their different characteristics related to size, shape, color, and behavior. Such pigeons are displayed at the shows, fairs, and other livestock shows.

There are approximately 1100 breeds of pigeons all over the world and about 500 breeds of fancy pigeons only are found in Europe.

Also see:   Beautiful Pictures of Fancy Pigeons

Tumbler Pigeons

Tumbler Pigeons are bred from the offspring of the domesticated rock dove. The tumbler pigeons have been selected due to their skill of tumbling and rolling over backward while flying. This capability has been found in domesticated pigeon breeds.

According to Wendell Levi's book, the Tumbler Pigeons were found in India before the 1590s. Charles Darwin writes in his book “The Origin of Species” about the short-faced Tumblers as a common breed during his lifetime. These Tumbler Pigeons are still can be seen in pigeon shows today.

Also see:  Beautiful Pictures of Tumbler Pigeons

Feral Pigeons

Countless escaped pigeons have been released over the years that have increased the number of feral pigeons. These pigeons display a variety of feathers while some look like ‘pure rock pigeons’. The shortage of pure wild breeds is mostly due to inter-breeding with feral breeds. However, Domestic Pigeons can easily be distinguished from feral birds because they have usually a metallic or plastic ring in their legs showing the bird is registered or kept by an owner.

Also see:   Beautiful Pictures of Feral Pigeons