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Collection  >  Order (Birds)  >  Order Information (Columbiformes)

Columbiformes

Columbiformes, Latin columba (“dove, pigeon”) and Latin -fōrmis (“-shaped”), means “dove-shaped”, in reference to the fact that these animals are all dove-shaped and dove-related.

Pigeons and doves

Photos

DISTRIBUTION

They are distributed everywhere on Earth, except for the driest areas of the Sahara Desert, Antarctica and its surrounding islands, and the high Arctic.

SIZE

They vary greatly in size, with lengths between 15 and 75 centimeters and weights between 30 and more than 2,000 g.

MORPHOLOGY

Their small heads on huge, compact bodies, short legs, and short bills with fleshy ceres are their distinguishing features. Their distinctive body feathers have a broad, strong, flattened shaft that quickly taper to a sharp point.

ECOLOGY & HABITAT

These species might be terrestrial, semi-terrestrial, or arboreal. Savanna, grassland, desert, temperate woodland and forest, mangrove forest, and even the desolate sands and gravels of atolls are home to a variety of species.

DIET

Their main food sources are fruits and seeds, which are separated into two groups: frugivorous (fruit-and-mast-eating) species and granivorous (seed-eating) species. While frugivorous species usually feed in trees, granivorous species usually graze on seed that falls to the ground. Some species, especially those found on the ground, consume a lot of insects and worms as food.

REPRODUCTION

They give each other pecks to indicate mating. After that, they form a couple. The male dances in the nuptial procession in an attempt to win the female over. The eggs (one or two) are laid by the female and hatched by both of them to produce new progeny. These are totally blind at birth, but they grow rapidly. Unlike most other birds, they exude “crop milk” to nourish their young. This is achieved by sloughing off fluid-filled cells from the crop lining. Up until roughly 32 days, when chicks start to fly and leave the nest, they remain with their parents. In order to produce a new clutch, the couple then hatches new eggs.

REFERENCES

del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D. A. (2010). Handbook of the Birds of the World Series. Lynx Edicions.

Lovette, I. J., Fitzpatrick, J. W. (2016). Handbook of Bird Biology. Wiley-Blackwell.

Gill, F. B., Prum, R. O. (2019). Ornithology. W.H. Freeman & Co. Ltd.

Total species known

353

Species in the collection

3

Species in Hong Kong

11

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