Typical Old World Pigeons
Columba
The bird genus Columba comprises a genus of medium to large pigeons. The terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used indiscriminately for smaller and larger Columbidae, respectively. Columba species are mostly termed "pigeons", and in many cases "wood pigeons", but some (including the type species of the genus), are termed "doves". The rock dove (C. livia) has given rise to the majority of domesticated pigeon breeds, such as the racing pigeon and the fantail pigeon, some of which have become feral. Meanwhile, "wood pigeon" by itself usually means the common wood pigeon (C. palumbus).
This genus as understood today is native to the Old World, but some (notably the domestic and feral rock dove) have been introduced outside their natural range, for example in the Americas.
37 branches of this genus, most-observed first · about 32 known species
Rock Pigeon
speciesColumba livia
Common Wood-Pigeon
speciesColumba palumbus
Stock Dove
speciesColumba oenas
Speckled Pigeon
speciesColumba guinea
White-headed Pigeon
speciesColumba leucomela
Hill Pigeon
speciesColumba rupestris
Rameron Pigeon
speciesColumba arquatrix
Snow Pigeon
speciesColumba leuconota
Black Wood-Pigeon
speciesColumba janthina
Ashy Wood-Pigeon
speciesColumba pulchricollis
Bolle's Pigeon
speciesColumba bollii
Trocaz Pigeon
speciesColumba trocaz
Metallic Pigeon
speciesColumba vitiensis
Nilgiri Wood-Pigeon
speciesColumba elphinstonii
Speckled Wood-Pigeon
speciesColumba hodgsonii
Laurel Pigeon
speciesColumba junoniae
White-collared Pigeon
speciesColumba albitorques
Yellow-eyed Pigeon
speciesColumba eversmanni
Pale-capped Pigeon
speciesColumba punicea
Sri Lanka Wood-Pigeon
speciesColumba torringtoniae
Afep Pigeon
speciesColumba unicincta
Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeon
speciesColumba delegorguei
Western Bronze-naped Pigeon
speciesColumba iriditorques
São Tomé Pigeon
speciesColumba malherbii
White-naped Pigeon
speciesColumba albinucha
Andaman Wood-Pigeon
speciesColumba palumboides
Comoro Pigeon
speciesColumba pollenii
Cameroon Pigeon
speciesColumba sjostedti
Maroon Pigeon
speciesColumba thomensis
Speckled × Rock Pigeon
hybridColumba guinea × livia
Silvery Wood-Pigeon
speciesColumba argentina
Rock × Hill Pigeon
hybridColumba livia × rupestris
Somali Pigeon
speciesColumba oliviae
Yellow-legged Pigeon
speciesColumba pallidiceps
Bonin Pigeon
speciesColumba versicolor
Mauritius Woodpigeon
speciesColumba thiriouxi
Ryukyu Pigeon
speciesColumba jouyi
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 old herbals & bestiaries
History of Monsters
Ulisse Aldrovandi · 1642 · p.579
History of Animals, Book I: On Viviparous Quadrupeds
Conrad Gessner · 1554 · p.453
History of Animals, Book I: On Viviparous Quadrupeds
Conrad Gessner · 1554 · p.481
History of Animals, Book I: On Viviparous Quadrupeds
Conrad Gessner · 1554 · p.453
Coloured Figures of English Fungi or Mushrooms
James Sowerby · 1797 · p.432
Iconography of the Mushrooms of Paulet
J.H. Léveillé; plates by Paulet · 1855 · p.286
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Columba 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 3000.