Through DNA testing, a research team from Oxford University’s Department of Biology has discovered rare colonies of Rock Doves — ancestors of the domestic and feral pigeon — on islands in Ireland and Scotland. Though the Rock Dove is extinct in other parts of the U.K., like Wales and England, the recent discovery can shed insight on how feral pigeons came to be.
According to the Oxford study, feral pigeons were once domestic pigeons that escaped. They quickly spread to cities across all of Europe. Domestic and feral pigeons are descendants of Rock Doves — wild birds typically found on cliffs, sea caves and in mountainous regions. Though the domestic and feral pigeons have had no trouble growing their population, the Rock Dove is nearly extinct.
“Studying the decline of the Rock Dove has been challenging for researchers because of such extensive interbreeding and replacement with feral pigeons,” says Will ...
