The rock dove (Columba livia), also sometimes as "rock pigeon" or "common pigeon", is a member of the bird family Columbidae (doves and pigeons). In common usage, it is often simply referred to as the "pigeon", although the rock dove is the wild form of the bird; the pigeons familiar to most people are the domesticated forms of the wild rock dove.
Wild rock doves are uniformly pale grey with two black bars on each wing, with few differences being seen between males and females; i.e. they are not strongly sexually dimorphic. The domestic pigeon (often, but invalidly, called "Columba livia domestica"), which includes about 1,000 different breeds, is descended from this species. Escaped domestic pigeons are the origin of feral pigeons around the world. Both forms can vary widely in the colour and pattern of their plumage unlike their wild ancestor, being red, brown, checkered, uniformly coloured, or pied.
Habitats include various open and semi-open environments where they are able to forage on the ground. Cliffs and rock ledges are used for roosting and breeding in the wild. Originating in Southern Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia, when including their domestic and feral descendants, they are an example of a least-concern species per IUCN among birds, being abundant with an estimated population of 17 to 28 million wild and feral birds in Europe alone and up to 120 million worldwide.
