Feral pigeon (Columba livia domestica), also called city dove, city pigeon, or street pigeon, are great in number in London, UK
Pigeons and doves constitute the bird family Columbidae that includes about 310 species. Pigeons are stout-bodied birds with short necks, and short, slender bills with fleshy ceres. They feed on seeds, fruits, and plants. This family occurs worldwide, but the greatest variety is in the Indomalaya and Australasia ecozones. In general, the terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably. Pigeon is a French word that derives from the Latin pipio, for a "peeping" chick, while dove is a Germanic word that refers to the bird's diving flight. In ornithological practice, "dove" tends to be used for smaller species and "pigeon" for larger ones, but this is in no way consistently applied, and historically, the common names for these birds involve a great deal of variation between the terms. The species most commonly referred to as "pigeon" is the rock dove, one subspecies of which, the domestic pigeon, is common in many cities as the feral pigeon. Feral pigeons (Columba livia domestica), also called city doves, city pigeons, or street pigeons, are derived from domestic pigeons that have returned to the wild. The domestic pigeon was originally bred from the wild rock dove, which naturally inhabits sea-cliffs and mountains. Rock (, 'wild'), domestic, and feral pigeons are all the same species and will readily interbreed. Feral pigeons find the ledges of buildings to be a substitute for sea cliffs, have become adapted to urban life, and are abundant in towns and cities throughout much of the world. Many city squares have large pigeon populations, such as the Piazza San Marco in Venice, The Gateway of India in Mumbai and Trafalgar Square in London - although measures are now taken to deter pigeons in Trafalgar Square. The bacteria Chlamydophila psittaci is endemic among pigeons and causes psittacosis in humans. It is transmitted both from handling pigeons but mostly from their droppings. Psittacosis is a serious disease but rarely fatal (less than 1%).
Size: 4957px × 3307px
Location: Battersea, London, UK
Photo credit: © Avpics / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: bird, britain, british, chlamydophila, city, columba, columbidae, copyspace, day, domestic, domestica, dove, england, feral, flying, gb, great, ground, hunched, kingdom, livia, london, nature, pigeon, pipio, psittaci, psittacosis, rock, uk, united, urban
