‘Rock dove’ or ‘pigeon’?
The feral pigeon that we see in our towns and cities today is descended from the rock dove (Columba livia), a cliff-dwelling bird historically found in coastal regions. The word ‘pigeon’ is actually derived from the Latin word ‘pipio’, which means ‘young bird’. The word then passed into Old French as ‘pijon’ and thus the English name ‘pigeon’ was derived, which is now used the world over as a common name for the rock dove. Other common names include ‘domestic pigeon’ and the ‘feral pigeon’.
In 2004 British and American ornithologists officially re-named the bird the ‘rock pigeon’.
