Wednesday 27 April 2016
Feral or Rock
Now here's an interesting question when is a Rock Dove not a Rock Dove!
This afternoon, 2 pigeons landed on the neighbours roof and immediately I thought racing pigeons or at least homing pigeons. A quick check with the binoculars and no rings and then I realised that the bird on the left had all the hallmarks of being a Rock Dove. The bird on the right has had some interbreeding and the wing pattern suggest that this is a feral pigeon. But of course you have to remember that domesticated pigeons did originate from Rock Doves.
If only we could see the rump on the left hand bird. If it was white then it could possibly be a Rock Dove.
There were lots of poses, and though it didn't show its rump, there are other features to suggest that this might just be a feral pigeon. The first feature is the feet which would be a lot redder, these are quite pink feet as are the legs. Also the white cere looks too enlarged at the base of the beak......
....and when it took off there was still no clear indication as to what colour the rump was, but with pink feet and a large cere, there can only be one conclusion......... A feral pigeon
The chances of it actually being a pure Rock Dove would be very very slim and in the UK there are but a handful of pure Rock Doves, with a few colonies in north-west Scotland. So not a Rock Dove but a feral pigeon which apart from the enlarged cere and pink feet and legs, had me thinking for awhile.