Information about the Bird Pigeons

the Bird Pigeons

Pigeons belong to the Columbiformes order, the Columbidae family, and are classified into five families, about 42 genera, and their types reach about 308 species.

It is one of the birds widely spread all over the world, with the exception of cold and remote places, and the number of pigeons in the world reaches more than 400 million pigeons, most of which live in urban areas and cities.

Pigeon description

the Bird Pigeons can be described in terms of form and behavior as follows:

The formal characteristics of the Bird Pigeons

the Bird Pigeons is characterized by a set of formal characteristics, which are as follows:

the size

The pigeon has a full body, as it weighs between 30 to 2000 grams, and its length ranges from 15 to 75 cm.

wings

Pigeon wings are distinguished by their length, and about 44% of the bird’s muscles are concentrated in them, which makes it fly with great skill, and gives it the ability to maneuver.

feathers

Most types of pigeons have brightly colored feathers, especially on the chest, back, wings, and face, and some have pink, gray, or brown feathers.

Head

The heads of pigeons are small in size, and they have a beak, and the part that lies below it is soft skin, and the eyes are surrounded by a ring of skin colored in blue, red, yellow, or white.

Pigeon behavioral traits

Pigeons live within a pattern of behaviors that can be summarized as follows:

Social life

Pigeons may exist individually, but they often live in groups that fly together as flocks, in which the number of pigeons may reach several thousand.

communication

Pigeons communicate with each other by issuing a set of sounds and tweets, which help them find a partner, indicate danger, or defend their habitat.

immigration

The behavior of pigeons varies between settling in one area, or migrating from one area to another in order to search for food, or because of the change in the seasons of the year, and some pigeons fly large distances daily, which may reach 40 km, but at the end of the day they return to their nest.

nest building

Pigeons use branches and stems of trees to build the nest, as the male collects the materials needed to build it, while the female builds the nest, which usually takes a period of 2 to 4 days.

Adapting to the heat

Pigeons in hot areas raise their feathers away from the edges, and blow them to maintain their body temperature.

the Bird Pigeons home

Pigeons are usually found in temperate and tropical regions, as they spread in lowland rainforests, highland forests, tropical forests, riverine forests, boreal forests, savannahs, deserts, and atolls.

In addition to the presence of pigeons in forests in which water swamps are spread, and in agricultural areas, urban areas, and suburbs, many types of pigeons also spread in the continent of South America, the continent of Australia, and the Pacific islands.

There are many types of pigeons in the continent of Africa and southeast tropical Asia, Large numbers of pigeons were transported by ships to the North American continent during the 17th century AD, but many of them escaped from captivity and began to multiply in the region.

Pigeon food

The feeding habits of pigeons vary, but in general it is able to eat anything, as it may get its food from the trash can, and this feature has helped it to be more adapted to any environment in which it lives, and pigeons can be classified according to the type of its food into two basic types as follows :

Herbivorous pigeons

As some types of pigeons depend on eating tropical fruits for their food, or swallowing a grain of fruit whole, and some depend on eating grains and seeds that they find on the surface of the earth, or pick them up with their beak from the stems of herbs, or search for them by digging their beak in the ground, and if the pigeons cannot From finding grains and seeds it deals with leaves, stems, and flower buds.

Animal-eating pigeons

There are a limited number of types of pigeons that feed on the meat of other animals, such as: insects, small vertebrates, lizards, and other invertebrates.

Pigeons multiply

The mating season of pigeons extends throughout the year, and it may be seasonal for some species, so the male mates with one female throughout his life, and during the mating period the male performs some behaviors that attract the female to him, such as making a squatting movement, raising the tail, flicking the wings, scratching the ground with his feet, Some species also flapping their wings, circling, and issuing tweets.

Mating may be repeated during the year about 5 times, and the female lays one or two eggs in each of them in the nest, and both spouses incubate the eggs, a process that takes from 11 to 30 days, and after the eggs hatch, the female works to feed her young for a period ranging from 30 to 40 days.

types of pigeons

There are a large number of types of pigeons in the world, and here are the most important of these types:

The typical Pigeons

The family of typical pigeons includes about 175 species of pigeons, and they are usually spread in temperate and tropical regions, and their shapes are distinguished by soft feathers of gray, or brown and black color; Among the most prominent types of pigeons that belong to the typical pigeon category are: dancing pigeons, homing pigeons, bofota pigeons, owl pigeons, muftal pigeons, and acrobatic pigeons.

fruit bath

The class of fruit pigeons includes about 115 species of pigeons, and they are found abundantly in Africa, southern Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands, and the most important characteristic of them is the soft beak, short legs, and brightly colored feathers, especially those of color the green.

Among the most important types of fruit pigeons: full pigeons, imperial pigeons, small colored pigeons, blue pigeons, dark blue pigeons with a red crest, and green-footed crimson pigeons.

Cyclist pigeons

The pheasant pigeon is widespread in the New Guinea region, and its most prominent characteristic is that its size is similar to the size of a chicken. The most prominent types are: white doves, mourning doves, ground doves, and quail.

crowned pigeon;

The crowned pigeon is found in the New Guinea region, and it is distinguished as the largest species of pigeon, as it reaches the size of a turkey, and can be recognized by its blue-gray feathers, and its heads that resemble the shape of a fan.

Tooth beak bath

The tooth-beak pigeon has a sharp beak like teeth, and it depends on eating fruits for its food.

The importance of the Bird Pigeons for a person

The pigeon is one of the birds of importance in human life, ancient and modern, and its importance can be summarized as follows:

Throughout history, the pigeon was an important symbol of ancient cultures, as it is a symbol of the Holy Spirit in the Christian religion, and a symbol of peace according to the accounts in the Jewish religion, which mentions that our master Noah, peace be upon him, released a dove after the flood with an olive branch in its beak.
Homing pigeons served humans in the past in conveying messages between people, especially during times of war.
Pigeon meat is used as a type of food used in cooking.
Pigeons are used in some laboratory experiments that helped study some genetic traits, study endocrine glands, and others.
A person takes pigeons as a pet to raise at home.