Stuart Blackman takes a look at why we have so many flocks of wild pigeons, despite them being domesticated centuries ago
Humans have been domesticating pigeons for millennia. Few animals have provided such a range of services: pigeons have been a source of food, scientific understanding, entertainment (think of racing and homing pigeons), even wartime communication. And varieties bred by pigeon fanciers inspired Darwin in the development of his ideas on the mechanism of evolution.
Where did feral pigeons come from?
Urban populations of feral pigeons were founded by escaped domestic birds. Those, in turn, were descended from the rock dove, a species that once ranged over much of Europe, Asia and Africa.
But while feral pigeons have spread to the Americas, Australia and the Pacific islands, the ancestral rock dove has experienced a significant decline, partly because of interbreeding with feral birds.
In England, Wales, Norway and Italy, they have been entirely replaced by feral pigeons. However, truly wild populations still cling on in remote outposts such as Scotland’s Outer Hebrides and south-west Ireland
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