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Rock pigeon

Columba livia · Doves and pigeons · Migratory game birds

Rock pigeon (Columba livia): About 34 cm; ancestral (wild-type) plumage pale gray body with darker head, white rump and two black wing bars. Contrasty white underwings in flight. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and dateOpen the rock pigeon map

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Rock pigeon in flight
Adobe Stock · Free asset, Standard License (asset 508073793)
Scientific name
Columba livia
Family
Columbidae
In North America
Introduced
Range
Native to Eurasia; introduced and established throughout most of the world, including across North America.
Biology

How to identify it

About 34 cm; ancestral (wild-type) plumage pale gray body with darker head, white rump and two black wing bars. [1][2]

Contrasty white underwings in flight. [1][2]

Feral flocks include many other colour forms, some resembling native Band-tailed Pigeon. [1][2]

Compared with the band-tailed pigeon: Wild native pigeon that some feral Rock Pigeon colour forms can suggest; Audubon gives no further separating marks. [1][2]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a rock pigeon before you act. Compared with the band-tailed pigeon: Wild native pigeon that some feral Rock Pigeon colour forms can suggest; Audubon gives no further separating marks.[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Around cities, farms, cliffs and bridges; most common around cities and in suburbs and farms, occasionally in wild places far from human dwellings. In its native range nested on coastal and inland cliffs and gorges. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Forages mostly by walking on the ground, often in flocks [1][2]

Eats mostly seeds; away from cities waste grain, grass and other seeds, sometimes berries or acorns; in cities largely food scraps [1][2]

Not migratory; has good homing ability [1][2]

Soft guttural cooing [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Where it is listed for removal or nuisance take

These authorities list this species as nuisance, invasive or unprotected wildlife that may be taken. This is not a game season.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Native to Eurasia; introduced and established throughout most of the world, including across North America.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. National Audubon Society · reviewed 2026-09-30

    National Audubon Society

  2. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe