Pigeons and Doves
Columbidae
Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They feed largely on plant matter, feeding on seeds (granivory), fruit (frugivory), and foliage (folivory).
In colloquial English, the smaller species tend to be called "doves", and the larger ones "pigeons", although the distinction is not consistent, and there is no scientific separation between them. Historically, the common names for these birds involve a great deal of variation. The bird most commonly referred to as "pigeon" is the domestic pigeon, descendant of the wild rock dove, which is a common inhabitant of cities as the feral pigeon.
60 branches of this family, most-observed first · about 337 known species
Typical Old World Pigeons
genusColumba
Zenaida Doves
genusZenaida
Turtle-Doves and Collared-Doves
genusStreptopelia
Small Ground Doves
genusColumbina
Laughing and Spotted Doves
genusSpilopelia
New Zealand Pigeons
genusHemiphaga
New World Pigeons
genusPatagioenas
Australasian Doves
genusGeopelia
Crested Pigeons
genusOcyphaps
Green-Pigeons
genusTreron
Leptotila Doves
genusLeptotila
Australian Bronzewings
genusPhaps
Imperial Pigeons
genusDucula
Emerald Doves
genusChalcophaps
Typical Cuckoo-Doves
genusMacropygia
Wood-Doves
genusTurtur
Oena
genusOena
Typical Fruit Doves
genusPtilinopus
Leucosarcia
genusLeucosarcia
Andean Ground Doves
genusMetriopelia
Australian Ground Pigeons
genusGeophaps
Wompoo and Scarlet-breasted Fruit-Doves
genusMegaloprepia
Lopholaimus
genusLopholaimus
Geotrygon Quail-Doves
genusGeotrygon
Crowned-Pigeons
genusGoura
Nicobar Pigeon and allies
genusCaloenas
Mascarene Pigeons and Turtle-Doves
genusNesoenas
Zentrygon Quail-Doves
genusZentrygon
Claravis
genusClaravis
Aplopelia
genusAplopelia
Ramphiculus Fruit-Doves
genusRamphiculus
Blue-Pigeons
genusAlectroenas
Brown-Doves
genusPhapitreron
Australian Rock Pigeons
genusPetrophassa
Bleeding-hearts and Allies
genusGallicolumba
Uropelia
genusUropelia
Pacific Ground Doves
genusPampusana
Starnoenas
genusStarnoenas
Black Cuckoo-Doves
genusTuracoena
Otidiphaps
genusOtidiphaps
Ectopistes
genusEctopistes
Greater Cuckoo-Doves
genusReinwardtoena
Blue-and-purple Ground Doves
genusParaclaravis
Leptotrygon
genusLeptotrygon
Mountain-Pigeons
genusGymnophaps
Laughing and Spotted Doves × Turtle-Doves and Collared-Doves
genushybridSpilopelia × Streptopelia
Dodos
genusRaphus
New Guinean Bronzewings
genusHenicophaps
Trugon
genusTrugon
Cryptophaps
genusCryptophaps
Columba × Spilopelia
genushybridColumba × Spilopelia
Pezophaps
genusPezophaps
Tooth-billed Pigeons
genusDidunculus
Typical Old World Pigeons × Turtle-Doves and Collared-Doves
genushybridColumba × Streptopelia
Geopelia × Streptopelia
genushybridGeopelia × Streptopelia
Ocyphaps × Streptopelia
genushybridOcyphaps × Streptopelia
Streptopelia × Treron
genushybridStreptopelia × Treron
Streptopelia × Zenaida
genushybridStreptopelia × Zenaida
Dysmoropelia
genusDysmoropelia
Bountyphaps
genusBountyphaps
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Columbidae in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 2715.