Rock Dove (Feral Pigeon) (Introduced)

Columba livia

Family: Columbidae (Pigeons and Doves, 25 species in Australia)
Size: 33 cm
Distribution: Much of the settled parts of Australia, not found in the western central regions
Status: Abundant
Habitat: Mainly urban areas, parks, city buildings, crop margins along roads, railways, coastal cliffs
References: Simpson and Day, Reader's Digest

The Rock Dove (otherwise known as the Feral Pigeon) is a very common bird, known to pretty much everyone.

Rock Dove (Feral Pigeon) (Introduced) - Columba livia
Photo: Featherdale Wildlife Park, Sydney NSW. High Resolution (2746 x 1855)

Some Birdwatching Resources


The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia, Graham Pizzey and Frank Knight The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia, Graham Pizzey and Frank Knight. This is the other of the two best bird field guides for Australia. It is the one preferred by many serious birdwatchers. However I find the pictures a bit dull looking for my taste — the birds all kind of look the same to me, making it harder to remember them in my mind. The illustrations are meant to be the most anatomically correct, though. The text descriptions are better than in Simpson and Day. If you want the most serious bird field guide get this one otherwise get Simpson and Day.

Purchase 9th ed. from Australia (Booktopia)

Purchase 9th ed. from Australia (Angus & Robertson)

Click here to purchase 9th ed. from Australia (The Nile)

Click here to purchase from Australia (Fishpond)

Click here to preorder the 9th ed. from Amazon


Field Guide to Australian Birds, by Michael Morcombe Field Guide to Australian Birds, by Michael Morcombe. This one has colour drawings of the eggs and the nests which not many other field guides do (I can't think of any that do). It's an excellent field guide and one of the four main ones (the other three being above this one). The weakness of this field guide is that some of the pictures of the birds aren't as good (or accurate) as the other three most used field guides. It's also the heaviest though there is a pocket edition which is much smaller and lighter.

Purchase from Australia (Booktopia)

Purchase from Australia (Angus & Robertson)

See Also

Australian Bird Field Guides

Return to Australian Birds
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Rock Dove (Feral Pigeon) (Introduced) - Columba livia

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