Rock Dove

Columba livia

The first Rock Doves, or pigeons, are thought to have arrived in North America in the early 1600s (Terres 1987) and much later in Missouri. Widmann (1907) did not list them, however, perhaps because of their domesticated status. Today, feral Rock Doves are found throughout the lower 48 states in association with farms and in urban and suburban areas.

Code Frequency

Rock Doves nest where sheltered sites are near grain food sources, such as farm buildings and grain elevators. Warehouses, bridges and ornate city buildings are commonly used as nest sites. Occasionally they nest far from human habitation in cavities along bluff faces. Rock Doves are easily seen as they fly across the sky, typically in flocks. Therefore, where not recorded in a block, they likely were few or not present. Although Rock Doves may range several kilometers from nest sites, they may have nested in most blocks where they were recorded.

Distribution

Breeding Rock Doves were sparingly distributed statewide away from urban and suburban areas. They were most notably not detected in many parts of the Ozark

Average Number of Birds / 100 stops

Abundance

Rock Doves were more than twice as abundant in the Big Rivers Natural Division than in the division where it was next-most abundant, the Osage Plains. The grainfields along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, as well as the barns and grain elevators, may provide both secure nesting sites and an abundance of food.

Phenology

Rock Doves raise several broods each year and lay eggs every month of the year (Terres 1987). Most egg laying occurred from March through June and August through November (Terres 1987). Atlas surveyors found evidence of nesting March through August. Because little Atlasing was conducted after August, there were few opportunities to determine if the species nests as late as November in Missouri.

Breeding Evidence

Reported in 698 (57.8%) of 1,207 blocks

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