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Columbidae

Also known as dove family, pigeon family, pigeon, pigeons, columbids

Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They feed largely on plant matter, feeding on seeds (granivory), fruit (frugivory), and foliage (folivory).

OverviewAI-generated

Columbidae is a family within the order Columbiformes and class Aves. The group is commonly referred to as pigeons and doves. It was established by Illiger in 1811. The family belongs to the kingdom Animalia and phylum Chordata. Its temporal range began in the Miocene.

Members of this family exhibit oviparity and produce crop milk. They lack a gallbladder. Reproductive traits include a period of lactation of 2 and a litter size of 2. Egg incubation lasts 28 days. The taxon is found across Earth.

Scientific literature on Columbidae includes 13,573 PubMed records. There are 92,984,304 occurrence records in GBIF. Specimens are held by institutions including USNM, MZUPRRP, FMNH, CLO, and TTU in countries such as the United States, Bahamas, Montserrat, Brazil, and Indonesia. The topic is referenced by 2,636 other encyclopedia articles.

Synthesized by Vinony from 45 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, PubMed, Gbif Occ, WoRMS, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

pigeons & doves

Columbidae

FAMILY

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassAves
OrderColumbiformes
FamilyColumbidae

Observations recorded92,984,304

鸠鸽科（學名：Columbidae）在鸟类传统分类系统中是鸟纲鸽形目中的一个科，一般稱為鸠或者鴿。有許多種類，其中有47屬，其下共有大約320個物種。常常被稱呼為白鴿或鴿子的常见物种是原鴿（Columba livia）。特徵是酒樽身形，脖子短小，有瘦長的嘴，牠喝水的時候，將嘴至鼻孔的範圍浸入水中吸吮，雄性和雌性從外表看不太出來，只是雄性在身材方面顯得有力，在行為及表情上顯的較為主動。鴿子的肌肉有益於在空中移動，他們有強健的胸骨保護心、肺臟，裡的骨頭是空心的，牠們會吃許多小石頭幫助消化，他們有大約一萬根羽毛，體型輕巧，最快可以大約每小時一百公里的速度飛行。鴿子以如玉米、白米、花生、豆子等種子、果實和其他柔軟的植物維生，属於食果动物，牠們並不挑食，也可以吃飼料。喜愛用幼小樹枝築巢。每次生蛋兩隻，由父母輪流孵化。牠們活躍於澳新界及東洋界一帶，已經絕種的巨鳥渡渡鳥也属于本科。鴿子嘴巴上半部的地方有磁體偵測器，因此他們能夠偵測強大磁體的範圍。

via GBIF

Museum specimens

Specimen records: 1,383
With media: 82
Family: Columbidae
Collections: USNM, MZUPRRP, FMNH, CLO, TTU, MCZ
Recorded in: United States, Bahamas, Montserrat, Brazil, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea

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Research

13,573 papers

Wild rock doves.Current biology : CB · 2025Smith WJDOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.065
Pigeon breeder's disease.ReviewThe Journal of laboratory and clinical medicine · 1996Allen JT, Spiteri MADOI: 10.1016/s0022-2143(96)90160-2
Domestic pigeons.Current biology : CB · 2013Shapiro MD, Domyan ETDOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.01.063
A Comprehensive Cytogenetic Analysis of Several Members of the Family Columbidae (Aves, Columbiformes).Genes · 2020Kretschmer R, Furo IO, Gomes AJB et al.DOI: 10.3390/genes11060632
Homing pigeons.Current biology : CB · 2018Biro DDOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.05.009
Complete mitogenome of Treron sphenurus (Aves, Columbiformes): the first representative from the genus Treron, genomic comparisons and phylogenetic analysis of Columbidae.Animal biotechnology · 2022Chen YX, Sun CH, Li YK et al.DOI: 10.1080/10495398.2020.1862135
Comparative chromosome painting in Columbidae (Columbiformes) reinforces divergence in Passerea and Columbea.Chromosome research : an international journal on the molecular, supramolecular and evolutionary aspects of chromosome biology · 2018Kretschmer R, de Oliveira Furo I, Gunski RJ et al.DOI: 10.1007/s10577-018-9580-5
Recovering the evolutionary history of crowned pigeons (Columbidae: Goura): Implications for the biogeography and conservation of New Guinean lowland birds.Molecular phylogenetics and evolution · 2018Bruxaux J, Gabrielli M, Ashari H et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2017.11.022

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Instance of: taxon
Parent taxon: Columbiformes
Image: Yellow Footed green pigeon.jpg

Show 16 more facts

taxon rank: family
Commons category: Columbidae
taxon name: Columbidae
Code of nomenclature: International Code of Zoological Nomenclature
topic's main category: Category:Columbidae
Commons gallery: Columbidae
taxon common name: golobi
on focus list of Wikimedia project: Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
period of lactation: 2
litter size: 2
has characteristic: crop milk
taxon range: Earth
does not have part: gallbladder
egg incubation period: 22
P8168: 7867 Burian
temporal range start: Miocene

Sources (7)

via Wikidata · CC0

~24 min read

Encyclopedic overview

25 sections

Contents

Etymology
Origin and evolution
Taxonomy and systematics
List of genera
Subfamily Raphinae Oudemans, 1917 (1835) (Old World tropics doves and pigeons)
Subfamily Claravinae Todd, 1913 (American ground doves)
Subfamily Columbinae Illiger, 1811 (typical pigeons and doves)
Species of uncertain placement
Fossil species
Description
Anatomy and physiology
Feathers
Flight
Size
Distribution and habitat
Behaviour
Feeding
Reproduction
Status and conservation
Domestication
See also
Notes
References
Further reading
External links

In colloquial English, the smaller species tend to be called "doves", and the larger ones "pigeons", although the distinction is not consistent, and there is no scientific separation between them. Historically, the common names for these birds involve a great deal of variation. The bird most commonly referred to as "pigeon" is the domestic pigeon, descendant of the wild rock dove, which is a common inhabitant of cities as the feral pigeon.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Columbidae” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.