Richard Gregson

2026-02-06 02:12:36

Noticing Nature #21 : Pigeons, Doves and Cuckoos

Thursday 5 Feb

This week’s ID basics will be a lot less complex than last week’s look at Gulls. Pause for a breather before next week we investigate Owls … and I know that’s going to be popular.

First bit of simplification is that are not all that many species to consider. Here in Canada there are Rock Dove (aka Pigeon), Mourning Dove, Black-billed Cuckoo and Yellow-billed Cuckoo. In Europe we can add Woodpigeon, Stock Dove, Rock Dove, Collared Dove and Turtle Dove as well as just the basic, nominatively unqualified Cuckoo.

Rock Doves/Pigeons and Doves

Pigeons and doves belong to the same bird family, Columbidae, so the distinction between them is more cultural and linguistic than taxonomic. Here are the main points that set them apart in everyday usage and biology. As a rough rule of thumb the name “pigeon” tends to be used for larger, bulkier species, and in particular the Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) that lives in cities worldwide. “Dove” on the other hand is mostly used for various smaller species such as the Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) in North America or the Eurasian Collared‑dove (Streptopelia decaocto). The now correct and agreed common name of what many know colloquially as simply Pigeon is Rock Dove. It is accepted ( International Ornithological Congress) that Rock Doves are the wild members of this family while Pigeon is reserved for domesticated forms

So, both Pigeon and Rock Dove belong to Columba livia, but selective breeding has produced a range of traits that set the two groups apart. As rough rule of thumb see the following, though there is overlap and generally making a distinction is not simple.

Body Colour – Uniform blue‑gray = wild; bright or unusual colors = domestic.

Neck colour – Strong iridescence suggests wild; muted or absent sheen more common in domestic.

Feet – Bare, scaly feet = wild; feathered (“muffed”) feet = domestic.

Tail/Wings – Straight, modest tail = wild; fan‑shaped, elongated, or unusually short wings = domestic.

This is a Rock Dove – a wild bird
Rock Dove (image from Wikipedia)
These are highly adaptable birds evolved as cliff‑nesting wild birds that later adapted to living in urban environments. They possess an exceptional homing ability thanks to magnetoreceptive cells in their upper beak that detect Earth’s magnetic field, allowing them to navigate over hundreds of miles. For a bird of their size their brains are proportionally large, and support excellent visual processing and memory that aid in recognizing individual humans and landmarks.

Mourning Dove

We don’t have to leave the garden to encounter group of these birds. In our very cold winters a half dozen or more will sit around the rim of a heated water bath we maintains, usually facing out and with their tails in or over the water into which they deposit considerable quantities of feces. We know this as the evening poop party.
Sunset Poop Party Reimagined – through reality is not greatly different
Mourning doves (Zenaida macroura) are, surprisingly, the most abundant songbird in North , recognized for They form long‑term monogamous bonds, often reuniting with the same mate each breeding season. Both parents produce a nutrient‑rich “crop milk” to feed their chicks during the first few days after hatching, supplementing it later with seeds and insects. They are highly adaptable, living in open habitats ranging from farmland to suburban gardens, and they can raise up to three broods per year, each consisting of two eggs incubated for roughly 14 days. Northern populations undertake seasonal migratory movements southward, while many southern birds remain resident year‑round—demonstrating remarkable flexibility in response to food availability and climate.
Mourning DoveMourning Dove
An interesting behavioural feature of Rock Doves is the wing raising you will sometimes see them do when other birds get too close – seemingly trying to fend them off by exposure to their “armpits” as shown in the following photograph. A brief wing‑raise or “wing‑stretch” is thought to keep the flight muscles limber and prepares the bird for rapid take‑off, especially after landing or while perched in a tight space; but it also serves as a visual signal in social interactions—raising one wing can indicate territorial confidence, a readiness to defend a perch, or a courtship display meant to attract a mate.

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Cuckoos

Firstly, an apology – I have never taken an adequately shareable photograph of a Cuckoo either in North America or in Europe. I do, somewhere, have a picture of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, out of focus, rear end vanishing in the leaves but you’d only know what it is because I say so. Not sharing that. These photos are from acknowledged third-party sources.

The Black-billed Cuckoo and the related Yellow-billed Cuckoo are birds you will be very lucky to encounter but ones which may very occasionally be identified – mostly by sound – within the forest. My location is a bit outside their normal geographic range, but with global warming more and more species that we never used to see are starting to make their appearances here. I have twice encountered the Black-billed Cuckoo in the Arboretum, the Yellow-billed Cuckoo just the once and that was in the middle of a torrential rainstorm in my Baie-D’Urfé garden when I did managed the poor quality photograph mentioned above. It’s elusive birds like that which make birding so much “fun”.

Black‑billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus erythropthalmus)

Adults have a striking red orbital ring around the eye, while juveniles show a yellow ring

The bill is black (hence the name, of course). Their diet includes a liking for hairy or spiny caterpillars that many birds avoid; they can ingest the irritating setae because the caterpillar hairs are shed in the stomach lining.

Nests are built in low shrubs or trees, but it is also an occasional brood parasite, laying eggs in the nests of yellow‑billed cuckoos or other songbirds. Like all cuckoos, they have zygodactyl feet (two toes forward, two backward) which aid perching on branches.

Yellow‑billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus)

Morphologically similar to the black‑billed cousin but with a yellow lower mandible and a broader, slightly longer tail. To be looked for in dense deciduous woodlands, often near water, where they can sit motionless hunting for large caterpillars – a primary food source. Nests are of twigs, roots and pine needles, usually 3–90 ft off the ground; the species is not an obligate brood parasite but will sometimes lay eggs in the nests of black‑billed cuckoos or other birds.

Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) – these are the classic Old‑World species

These are obligate brood parasites which never build their own nests but deposits a single egg in the nest of a host species such as reed warblers, dunnocks, meadow pipits etc. The egg often mimics the host’s coloration and pattern, and the hatchling’s begging calls imitate those of the host’s own chicks. The male’s iconic “cuck‑oo” song is a far‑carrying call used to defend territory and attract mates.

A long‑distance migrant – fly nonstop across the Mediterranean and Sahara to reach wintering grounds in sub‑Saharan Africa, while some populations travel to the Indian subcontinentwikipedia.org.

Occupy a wide range of habitats—from reed beds to open moorland—to match the distribution of suitable host species.

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Offshoots and Byways Corner

This … let kids get muddy in nature and make the schools prioritise it

howlettk.substack.com/p/rewild…

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Rewilding childhood starts with a raincoat

Why outdoor time should be as essential as sport

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