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How to identify pigeons
Pigeons are familiar feathered faces to us all, a common sight across the UK, from busy cities to the peaceful countryside. They were domesticated by people as early as 10,000 years ago, and swiftly became cherished, and useful, companions.
But did you know that not all the pigeons we see are the same species? With five species found in the UK – the wood pigeon, feral pigeon (descendents of the rock dove) and collared, turtle and stock doves – many of the recognisable birds that pass us on the pavements are different from one another.
Find out how to identify them below.
Pigeon species
Feral pigeons
Feral pigeons are the domesticated descendants of the wild rock dove (scientifically known as Columba livia), and are common in UK towns and cities.
Rock doves are only found on cliffs and rocky coastal areas of remote parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland, whereas feral pigeons can be found everywhere (except upland areas).
Rock doves have a light-grey body, metallic/iridescent purple-blue neck, with two black stripes across their wings. Feral pigeons, however, can be a range of colours and patterns, including grey-blue, pale grey, cinnamon brown, while others resemble their wild rock dove ancestors exactly.
Feral pigeons are smaller in size than wood pigeons, but larger than collared doves.
Wood pigeon
The wood pigeon, sometimes written as ‘woodpigeon’ (or Columba palumbus), is the most common pigeon in the UK – and the largest.
Mostly grey with white patches on their neck (looking like a white collar), white wing bars, and pink-purple chest feathers, these are recognisable and regular visitors to our towns and cities. In fact, they’re often so used to the presence of people that city dwelling wood pigeons are much more approachable than their countryside counterparts.
You’ll find wood pigeons all over the UK, in deciduous woods, farmlands, towns and cities. They’re so common, chances are you’ll encounter a wood pigeon within every 10km square area of Britain and Ireland.
Their distinctive coos are often the sound most associated with pigeons, heard from the treetops in the early mornings, especially during the spring.
Wood pigeons are larger and plumper than feral pigeons, and have white wing bars, while feral pigeons (and wild rock doves) have black bars.
What does a woodpigeon sound like?
Susanne Kuijpers, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, https://xeno-canto.org/704520
Collared, turtle and stock doves
Collared, stock and turtle doves are actually all species of pigeon.
Collared doves (Streptopelia decaocto) are common in gardens, urban areas, woodlands, on coasts and in parks all around the UK. Small and brownish-yellow with darker grey wingtips, they get their name from the thin black collar halfway around their necks.
Stock doves (Columba oenas) are very similar in appearance to the wood pigeon, except smaller and without any white on their necks or wings. Medium-sized and mostly grey, with a signature blue-green metallic neck, they’re commonly found in parks, woodlands, winter farmlands, but rarely in towns or gardens.
Turtle doves (Streptopelia turtur) are the smallest of the three doves, and very colourful. They have brownish-orange and black patterned wings and back, a light grey head, red ring around their eye, pink chest and rows of black and white stripes on the side of their neck. Turtle doves make a “turr turr turr” sound (hence their name), compared to the collared doves' very familiar ‘hoo hoo hoo’ cooing. Sadly, turtle doves are the UK’s fastest declining bird species – very nearly extinct.
DID YOU KNOW?
Pigeons and doves are scientifically the same: they belong to the same family of birds, the Columbidae.
Homing pigeons
Homing pigeons, often called racing pigeons, are actually feral pigeons (wild rock dove descendants) that have been selectively bred for their navigation skills.
Their talent is in their name; homing pigeons have a spectacular ability to find their way home, no matter how far away they are. Famous for travelling across large distances to deliver messages – from love letters to critical correspondence – pigeons were a common means of communication as early as 3000 BCE right up to 1900s wartime.
Despite participating in pigeon races, they’re not technically racing – instead simply returning home alongside other pigeons. The time it takes them to arrive is measured.
Homing pigeons are a type of domestic, kept pigeon, considered a pet and reliant on the people who care for them. The act of breeding them for pigeon keeping is known as pigeon fancying.
If you’ve found a lost or injured homing pigeon, find out how to help here.
How to identify a kept pigeon
Kept pigeons usually have a ring around at least one of their legs with a number on it – this will show whether they’re homing pigeons or show (fancy) pigeons. Show pigeons have a ring number starting with ‘NPA’, while racing pigeons have numbers beginning with ‘GB’. Pigeons seen without rings are usually wild.
Senses
Pigeons, like people, come equipped with five standard senses – but theirs are much sharper and far more refined than ours:
- Sight: With 340 degree vision and a split focus, their upper eyeline can see far away, while their lower eyeline picks up on close details.
- Smell: Pigeons use their sense of smell to orientate themselves, sniffing out their location through scents carried on the wind, which they associate with a certain direction.
- Hearing: Pigeons are reliant on their hearing to listen out for threats and predators, using their inner ear for balance. They can pick up sounds at lower frequencies and greater distances.
- Touch: Both their beaks and wings contain blood vessels and nerves that allow for sensation. They also use both to express emotions, from ‘beak smacking’ (opening and closing their beak like smacking lips) as a sign of comfort, to tightening their feathers when they’re nervous.
- Taste: With no teeth, pigeons eat by pecking at food and swallowing it whole. Find out what pigeons like to eat below.
Did you know?
It’s believed pigeons can sense a storm is coming sooner than other animals.
Then there’s the mysterious sixth sense: a pigeon’s ability to sense magnetic fields. We don’t yet know how, but we know they do. Pigeons and many other animals can pick up on the Earth’s magnetic field, using it like a compass to direct them home. Whether that’s because of light-sensitive proteins in their eyes, or tiny crystals in their beaks, pigeons have a brilliant sense of direction.
Pigeon lifespan
Feral and wood pigeons, and collared and stock doves have an average lifespan of three years, however this can be less without access to nutritious foods and safe environments. Threats from predators (like peregrines or cats), diseases (like parasites and canker) and the impact of people (like traffic accidents and general cruelty) can also shorten their lives.
Turtle doves, however, live an average of two years. The impacts of habitat and food loss, intensive farming and being hunted when migrating outside the UK, have led to shorter lifespans. Sadly, turtle doves are now near extinction in the UK.
When and where you might see pigeons
From rural areas to urban environments, from towns and cities to woodlands and farms, you’ll find pigeons plodding around on pavements, nesting in dense hedges and flying past skyscrapers.
They tend to choose elevated spots for roosting, like tree branches, beneath bridges, on rooftops or other building ledges or holes, as these resemble their preference for rocky cliffs. Pigeons can nest there all year round, peaking from late spring to early summer. They will often return to the same nesting spot.
As social birds, pigeons are usually seen in pairs, or in flocks. In the UK, there are approximately 465,000 pairs of feral pigeons, 5.2 million pairs of wood pigeons, over 800,000 pairs of collared doves, an estimated 320,000 stock dove breeding territories and, sadly, in 2021, a low of 2,000 turtle dove breeding territories.
What does a pigeon nest look like?
Pigeons will choose their nest based on access to food and clean water, in high up places that mimic rocky, cliff-like spots.
In towns and cities, common nesting sites include chimneys, gutters, balconies, ledges and in loft spaces, while pigeons in rural areas might choose to nest in dense trees and tall hedges.
A pigeon nest is often flat and loosely made with little structure, but the accumulation of pigeon poop helps to keep it sturdy. Built from twigs, sticks, leaves, grass and other natural materials, pigeons will typically raise only two eggs in a nest at a time.
Living with pigeons
Pigeons are frequent garden visitors, landing on our lawns to forage or roosting on our rooftops. For many, seeing pigeons in their garden is a delight, while others may prefer to discourage them. In either case, find out how to protect pigeons in your garden, or the best way to safely deter them.
Pigeon behaviour
Pigeons have gained an unfortunate reputation over the years, despite being incredibly curious, clever and complex creatures. They’re a community-minded bird, exhibiting different behaviours and routines in order to survive, many of which help us better understand them.
From vibrating as a sign of anticipation to fluffing their forehead feathers as a show of comfort, pigeons express their emotions and intentions, and communicate in a myriad of ways.
Pigeon diet
Pigeons aren’t picky eaters. From nature’s delicacies to humanity’s leftovers, pigeons eat what they can access, including:
- Seeds and grains: Such as oats, sunflower seeds, wheat and millet. This makes up the majority of their diet.
However, don’t put out seeds between May and October, as this can increase the risk of disease spreading, and don’t feed them a seed-only diet, as this can lead to nutrient deficiencies and cause birds to become reliant on you as a source of food. Read more about feeding garden birds here.
- Buds: Pigeons will eat almost any young plant bud.
- Berries and fruits: Like elderberries, holly, ivy, hawthorn and even apples and pears in small chunks.
- Nuts: Including peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds and other types of unsalted and nuts without shells.
However, don’t put out nuts between May and October, as this can increase the risk of disease spreading. Read more about feeding garden birds here.
- Invertebrates: Pigeons tend to prefer seeds and grains, however if food is scarce, they may tuck into any nearby small invertebrates.
- Vegetables: If available, pigeons can eat leafy greens like spinach, lettuce and even dandelion greens.
- Human scraps: Although pigeons have adapted to their urban surroundings and the common food sources it provides – from rubbish bins to crumbs on the floor – these are not nutritious foods. They need a balanced diet of seeds and grains to keep healthy.
Did you know?
Pigeons consume gravel and sand too. This grit helps to grind their food, aiding their digestion.
The emotional and social lives of pigeons
Pigeons may live in the wild, but they’re birds who need routines and relationships to thrive.
As the symbol of romance, you’ll often find pigeons in pairs, having found a partner and mating for life. Many consider pigeon pairs to be ‘married’, as they stay together through sickness (if one is ill, the other will remain at their side) and in health.
Pigeons can love, grieve, and suffer from loneliness. In fact, isolated pigeons (such as those kept as pets on their own) are more likely to experience depression. They’re community-minded creatures, preferring to live in a flock.
A flock usually contains 20 or more pigeons (though smaller flocks do exist), in which each pigeon works together to navigate and protect one another. The flock is built on a ‘wingman’ hierarchy, with certain pigeons leading the flock, but sharing the role. You may even see entire flocks nesting and roosting in the same building.
Pigeons are loyal, loving creatures – and not just to other pigeons. Having lived alongside us for thousands of years, they’ve taken a liking to humanity, even considering those of us they spend regular time with to be a part of their flock.
They’re able to recognise human faces, showing affection to their preferred people, and can also interpret different human behaviours, such as differentiating kindness from a threat. Their ability to identify and bond with people is a testament to their remarkable intelligence, memory and trust.
If you’ve ever taken the time to stop and feed the pigeons, the chances are they’ll remember you, and be incredibly grateful that you did.
Did you know?
Despite certain beliefs, pigeons aren’t dirty.
They’re hygienic animals that spend a large part of the day preening (grooming feathers with their beaks) and bathing. It’s not the pigeon that’s unclean, but the urban environment we’ve left for them.
Pigeons in history
Today, pigeons are sadly referred to as pests – or worse. But pigeons of the past were regarded as heroes, praised for their life-saving messenger services during World War I and World War II.
Many received medals for their bravery, like White Vision, a female homing pigeon who received a Dickin Medal (the highest bravery award for animals) in 1943, after flying over 60 miles in stormy weather carrying a message from a downed aircraft in the Hebrides isles, alerting search crews to their location. As a result, the crew of 11 were all rescued.
In 1942, another female pigeon, named Winkie, flew 120 miles across the North Sea, after a World War II RAF Bomber aircraft crashed into the water. The crew released her and she flew back to her loft in Broughty Ferry, alerting airbase colleagues of the emergency. She saved the lives of all four men.
Before Royal Mail there was the pigeon post – domestic pigeons have been used for thousands of years to carry messages across cities and seas and battlefields.
Pigeon breeding
Pigeons usually breed in the spring and summer, but pigeons in towns and cities may be able to breed the whole year round thanks to the constant supply of food.
During the mating process, the male pigeon (the cock) will choose a female pigeon (the hen) to mate with, strutting around, cooing and attracting her attention. If successful, the two will rub or lock beaks together – known as billing, which is essentially a pigeon kiss – to strengthen their bond (this also simulates how they feed their offspring). They’ll then mate.
A pigeon mates by pressing the opening at the base of their tail, known as the cloaca, against the other pigeon’s cloaca, from which the sperm will transfer. This is called the ‘Cloacal kiss’.
The pigeon lifecycle is dependent on the species, but generally follows this pattern:
- Mating: After finding a partner, pigeons will mate for life.
- Nest building: The male pigeons will gather all the nest materials, and the female will build it.
- Moving in: Once in their nest, the female pigeon will wait a couple of days before laying the first egg.
- Laying: The first egg is laid, then the second egg arrives within the next 24 to 48 hours.
- Incubation: Usually, a total of two eggs will be incubated by both parents for around 18 days.
- Hatching: The eggs will hatch, and the chicks will remain in the nest for another four to six weeks.
- Fledging: The fledglings will leave the nest in the next 25 to 29 days, but may stay nearby.
- Maturing: It can take up to seven months for the pigeon to reach sexual maturity.
This breeding cycle can happen several times each year, with the same pigeon pair raising between two to four broods.
Both parents help to raise the babies. Unlike most birds, pigeons produce what is known as ‘pigeon milk’ or ‘crop milk’ – a substance produced in a pouch in their throats, which provides immunity boosters and antioxidants to their babies for the first 10 days of their life. Both female and male pigeons can make pigeon milk.
Baby pigeon
Pigeon chicks, called squabs, grow through three stages before becoming an adult pigeon:
stage: hatchling
age: birth to one week old
Born completely naked, with pink skin, a large beak, and yellow fuzz.
stage: Nestling
age: one to three weeks old
Feathers begin to grow.
stage: Fledgling
age: One month to six weeks old
Almost fully feathered and grown like an adult pigeon.
Squabs leave their nest after about a month. They may have learned to walk while still in the nest, but it’s not until they’re four to six weeks old that they’ll be ready to fly away and fend for themselves.
At this point, they’ll be fully feathered and look the same as adult pigeons. This is why people think you don’t see baby pigeons – by the time they’re ready to leave the nest, they look similar to their parents.
If you’ve found a sick or injured baby pigeon, or one that’s fallen from the nest or found alone, find out how to help here.
How the RSPCA helps pigeons
Each year, thousands of pigeons (of all species) are admitted to our four wildlife centres, making up one fifth of all wild animals that make their way into our care.
In 2025, we had over 2,300 pigeons – most of which were wood and feral pigeons. Over half of them were brought to us by members of the public, after being found grounded, injured or attacked by an animal (as well as for a variety of other reasons, including collisions, being found orphaned or entangled).
We work hard to ensure these pigeons are rehabilitated and returned home to the wild. But the best solution is prevention; empowering people in both urban and rural areas to help us protect pigeons and other wildlife, in the hopes that the number of sick or injured pigeons in our care begins to reduce. This is why we’re also working to promote humane deterrents instead of cruel methods of pigeon population control.
Summer appeal
Your love can rescue
Every summer, animal cruelty peaks. Right now, it’s at its highest level in five years. But cruelty isn’t the strongest force at work this summer. Love is. Together, we can turn this season of cruelty into one of love, kindness and rescue for animals that need it most.
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Types of pigeons
The pigeons we most often see today are descendants of the rock dove. Humans first domesticated this breed over 5000 years ago. They were originally bred for food and trained for carrying messages. These 'feral' pigeons are now back in the wild but live alongside us enjoying the benefits of urban life.
Other species, such as wood pigeons, collared doves and stock doves are also found in growing numbers in towns and cities. The turtle dove is Britain’s rarest pigeon species, only found in rural areas and in declining numbers.
Where pigeons live
Pigeons are found in both rural and urban environments, from city centres to woodlands and a range of habitats in between. As they’re social birds, pigeons are usually seen in pairs or in larger numbers in loose flocks.
What pigeons eat
Pigeons aren’t fussy when it comes to their diet, which has helped them adapt to urban environments. They’ll feed on seeds, buds, berries, small invertebrates and also any human food scraps they can find on the ground.
When pigeons mate and lay eggs
Pigeons usually breed in the spring and summer. However, in towns and cities, pigeons may be able to breed the whole year round thanks to the constant supply of food. Their nests are made from loose twigs and leaves. They can nest anywhere from open ledges and tree branches, to holes in buildings, or even cliffs.
Once in their nest, the female bird will wait a couple of days before laying the first egg. The second egg will come within the next 24 hours to 48 hours. Usually, a total of two eggs will incubate for around 18 days. The fledglings will leave the nest in the next 25 to 29 days.
Pigeons are a protected species
In England and Wales - all wild birds, their young, nests and eggs are protected under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981.
It's an offence to:
- To damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird in use or being built.
- To destroy or remove any egg of any wild bird
- To take, kill or injure any wild bird or their young
The difference between racing and wild pigeons?
Coloured rings are used to signify if the bird is a show (fancy) pigeon or a racing pigeon. The rings are placed around one or both of its legs. Show pigeons have a ring number starting with 'NPA' and racing pigeons usually start with 'GB'. If you see a pigeon without a leg ring it's probably a wild pigeon.
