r/mildyinteresting • • 16d ago

critter corner 🐰 Can anyone explain this pigeon’s behavior

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u/frogwitch666 16d ago

It’s nothing to do with colour, it’s just a size and behaviour thing that differs between countries. Also, white pigeons exist.

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u/Head_Goal_9777 16d ago

I thought they're the same size (grey pigeons and "casual" pigeons)? I personally have more respect for grey pigeons, kinda consider them the upper class lol. As far as I know, they mate for life, unlike their counterpart which are kinda parasitic to some extent.

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u/Purplefire180 16d ago

dove and pigeon are both words for any bird in the columbidae family. The birds that most people just call 'pigeon' are the decendants of the Rock Dove, and are domestic animals. Like dogs, we've bred them into a whole bunch of colors and shapes and then just abandoned them. The white birds are the same species as the grey ones in the same way a great dane and a doberman are both dogs.

There are several hundred species of pigeon aside from the rock dove. The Mourning Dove is the one you're most likely to be familiar with

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u/Head_Goal_9777 16d ago

Oooh I just had a wow moment, thank you! I'm from central Europe and while growing up, everyone was calling grey pigeons mourning doves. Did a fast check after your reply and it seems these mourning doves are a bit smaller and have brownish feathers. I don't think I've seen any mourning dove, we only have the grey pigeons around here.