Pigeons - Their types and Facts

Pigeons and doves are stout-bodied birds with short necks, small head, and have short slender bills with a fleshy cere.  Pigeons are often kept as pets and have long been used to carrry messages over great distances. The species commonly referred to just as "pigeon" is the Feral Rock Pigeon, common in many cities. Pigeons have strong stiff feathers which are black, blue, brown or gray. The neck feathers are brilliantly colored ranging from green to yellow to purple.  Pigeon legs and feet are red, pink or black and their eyes are orange or red. Pigeons lives everywhere in the world except very cols regions.  Most species of Pigeons can be found in tropical regions. Doves and pigeons build relatively flimsy nests from sticks and other debris, which may be placed in trees, on ledges or on the ground, depending on species. They lay one or two eggs, and both parents care for the young, which leave the nest after 7 to 28 days. Doves feed on seeds, fruit and plants. Seeds and fruit form the major component of the diet of pigeons and doves.  In fact, the family can be divided into the seed eating and the fruit eating. They sometime eat insects, worms and snails also. Pigeons drink by dipping their beak into water and scuking it up this differs from other birds drinking style. Few types of pigeons
Rock Pigeon Rock Pigeon is often simply referred to as the "pigeon". Wild Rock Doves are pale grey with two black bars on each wing, although domestic and feral pigeons are very variable in colour and pattern. There are few visible differences between males and females. Originally found wild in Europe, North Africa, and western Asia, feral Pigeon have become established in cities around the world. The adult of the nominate subspecies of the Rock pigeons is 32–37 cm long with a 64–72 cm wingspan.Weight for Rock pigeons ranges from 238 to 380 grams.  It has a dark bluish-gray head, neck, and chest with glossy yellowish, greenish, and reddish-purple iridescence along its neck and wing feathers. Rock pigeons uses cliffs and rock ledges for roosting and breeding in the wild. The type of nest constructed is a flimsy platform of straw and sticks, put on ledge, under cover. Often window ledges of buildings.
Homing Pigeon Homing Pigeon is a variety of domestic pigeon derived from the Rock Pigeon and is an intelligent bird. It can find it's way home inspite of travelling long distances, by using its sensitivity to light waves and to the earth's magenetic fields waves. The innate homing ability, meaning that it will generally return to its own nest and its own mate made it relatively easy to breed from the birds that repeatedly found their way home over long distances. Flights as long as 1,800 km have been recorded by birds. Their average flying speed over moderate distances is around 80 km/h, but speeds of up to 177 km/h have been observed. Homing Pegion were used extensively during World War I for delivering important messages.
Victoria Crowned Pigeon The Victoria Crowned Pigeon, is a large, bluish-grey pigeon with elegant blue lace-like crests, maroon breast and red iris.  The bird may be easily recognized by the unique white tips on its crests. Crowned pegions have tuffs of thin and lacy feathers which form a crest on their head. They have black bill and clackish-maroon legs. They are the largest non-extinct members of the pigeon family. Both sexes are similar. It is on average 74 cm long and weighs 2,384 grams. It is marginally larger than the other crowned pigeons on average and likely the largest species of pigeon of earth. Its diet consists mainly of fallen fruits,berries, figs, seeds and insects. The female usually lays a single white egg.