Thursday, April 2, 2020

Bird Watching - Rock Dove Pigeon

Blue Rock Pigeon



The rock dove or Blue rock pigeon is often simply referred to as the "pigeon".
yes.. Our very own pigeon. The only bird i knew, other than the common crow  when i was a child. The coo sound they produce makes it easy to identify that a pigeon nest is there on the window ledges of your building.




You can see these birds in large groups in all most all major cities around the world.
Rock Pigeons crowd streets and public squares, living on discarded food and offerings of birdseed.



Local Names
Hindi - Kabutar
Tamil - Mada Pura
Malayalam - Kutta Pravu



It has a dark bluish-grey head, with glistening metallic green, purple and magenta sheen on neck and the upper breast. It has two dark bars on wings and a band across the end of tail. Both the sexes are alike.

This pigeon nest on building ledges, walls or statues. They may damage these structures via their feces; starving birds can only excrete urates, which over time corrodes masonry and metal. In contrast, a well-fed bird passes mostly solid feces, containing only small amounts of uric acid.
The rock dove breeds at any time of the year. 
The nest is a flimsy platform of straw and sticks, laid on a ledge, under cover, often on the window ledges of buildings
Two white eggs are laid; incubation, shared by both parents, lasts 17 to 19 days.

 Pictures:
TVH Taus, Chennai (2020)
Srinivasa Classic, Bangalore (2018)

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