| The terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used interchangeably, although smaller species are more likely to be called doves.
The species commonly referred to just as the "pigeon" is the feral Rock Pigeon, common in many cities.
Pigeons and doves are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills with a fleshy cere.
The usually flimsy nests are made of sticks, and the two white eggs are incubated by both sexes. Doves feed on seeds, fruit and other soft plantstuff. Unlike most other birds, , the doves and pigeons produce "crop milk", which is secreted by a sloughing of fluid-filled cells from the lining of the crop. Both sexes produce this highly nutritious substance to feed to the young.
This family occurs worldwide, but the greatest variety is in the Indomalaya and Australasia ecozones. It is related to the extinct dodo. The young doves and pigeons are called "squabs". |
