[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":277},["ShallowReactive",2],{"families_en:\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fgolubinye":3,"alt-locale:families_en:\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fgolubinye":132,"section-listing:disabled":133,"section-listing:families_en:\u002Fsemeystva":134,"related-covers:en:\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fchaykovye|\u002Fsemeystva|\u002Fopredelitel":271},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"coverImage":92,"description":93,"extension":94,"faq":95,"imagePrompt":105,"latinName":20,"meta":106,"navigation":107,"order":108,"pageType":109,"path":110,"publishedAt":111,"readingMinutes":112,"relatedLinks":113,"seo":126,"sitemap":129,"stem":130,"taxonRank":109,"updatedAt":108,"__hash__":131},"families_en\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fgolubinye.md","Pigeons and Doves (Columbidae)",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":84},"minimark",[9,14,26,29,33,36,39,43,73,77],[10,11,13],"h2",{"id":12},"what-makes-columbidae-a-family","What makes Columbidae a family",[15,16,17,21,22,25],"p",{},[18,19,20],"strong",{},"Columbidae",", the pigeon and dove family, comprises around 340 species found on every continent except Antarctica, unified by a stout, compact body, a relatively small head, short legs, and an unusual drinking technique in which the bird sucks water up continuously through the bill without needing to tilt its head back, a trait shared with very few other bird groups. The family is also distinguished by feeding newly hatched chicks on ",[18,23,24],{},"crop milk",", a nutrient-rich secretion produced in the crop of both parents, an adaptation that allows breeding to begin even before conventional food sources such as seeds are reliably available.",[15,27,28],{},"Despite this shared physiological foundation, the family spans a striking range of ecological outcomes, from species that have adapted with remarkable success to farmland, woodland, and even dense urban environments, to specialist species tied closely to a narrower set of habitat and dietary conditions that have proven far more vulnerable to modern land-use change.",[10,30,32],{"id":31},"distinctive-traits-across-the-family","Distinctive traits across the family",[15,34,35],{},"The three species covered in this atlas illustrate this range well: the rock dove is the archetypal urban generalist, its feral descendants thriving in cities worldwide on scavenged food and building ledges standing in for natural cliffs; the wood pigeon has expanded successfully from woodland and farmland into parks and gardens, sustained by a broad plant-based diet and the ability to raise multiple broods a year; and the turtle dove, by contrast, depends on a narrower diet of wild arable weed seeds and scrubby hedgerow nesting cover, conditions that have become scarcer under intensive modern farming and driven one of the steepest population declines of any common European bird.",[15,37,38],{},"Migration strategy also varies sharply within the family: both the rock dove and wood pigeon are largely resident across most of their range, while the turtle dove is a long-distance migrant, traveling each year between European breeding grounds and wintering areas in the Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa.",[10,40,42],{"id":41},"species-in-this-family","Species in this family",[15,44,45,46,51,52,56,57,51,61,64,65,51,69,72],{},"This atlas currently covers three members of Columbidae: the ",[47,48,50],"a",{"href":49},"\u002Fen\u002Fvidy-ptic\u002Fvidy\u002Fsizyi-golub","rock dove"," (",[53,54,55],"em",{},"Columba livia","), wild ancestor of every domestic and feral pigeon and one of the most successful urban birds in the world; the ",[47,58,60],{"href":59},"\u002Fen\u002Fvidy-ptic\u002Fvidy\u002Fvyakhir","common wood pigeon",[53,62,63],{},"Columba palumbus","), Europe's largest and most widespread pigeon, easily known by its white neck patches; and the ",[47,66,68],{"href":67},"\u002Fen\u002Fvidy-ptic\u002Fvidy\u002Fobyknovennaya-gorlitsa","European turtle dove",[53,70,71],{},"Streptopelia turtur","), a small, warm-toned migrant dove now classified as globally Vulnerable following sharp population declines. Further Columbidae species native to the atlas's covered regions will be added to the catalogue over time.",[10,74,76],{"id":75},"where-and-when-to-watch-this-family","Where and when to watch this family",[15,78,79,80,83],{},"Farmland, woodland edges, hedgerows, and virtually any urban park or square offer good opportunities to find this family, with the rock dove and wood pigeon typically visible year-round across most of their range. The turtle dove, by contrast, is present only from ",[18,81,82],{},"April to September"," and has become genuinely scarce in parts of Western Europe, making warm, well-hedged farmland with abundant wild seed sources the most reliable place to look for it during the breeding season.",{"title":85,"searchDepth":86,"depth":86,"links":87},"",2,[88,89,90,91],{"id":12,"depth":86,"text":13},{"id":31,"depth":86,"text":32},{"id":41,"depth":86,"text":42},{"id":75,"depth":86,"text":76},"\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fgolubinye.png","The pigeon family: stout-bodied, small-headed birds fed on crop milk as chicks, spanning the city-adapted rock dove and wood pigeon to the increasingly rare, long-distance migrant turtle dove.","md",[96,99,102],{"q":97,"a":98},"What physical traits define the pigeon and dove family?","Columbidae species share a stout, compact body, a small head relative to body size, short legs, and a distinctive drinking method — sucking water up continuously without tilting the head back, unlike most other birds, which must tip the head to swallow. The family is also unified by feeding chicks on crop milk, a nutrient-rich secretion produced by both parents, a trait shared with very few other bird families.",{"q":100,"a":101},"Is there a real biological difference between a 'pigeon' and a 'dove'?","No consistent taxonomic distinction separates pigeons from doves; both common names are applied fairly interchangeably across the roughly 340 species in the family, with larger, stockier species more often called pigeons and smaller, more slender species more often called doves, a naming convention based on general impression and regional tradition rather than any formal scientific division.",{"q":103,"a":104},"Why do pigeon and dove populations vary so much in conservation status?","Because different species within the family occupy very different ecological niches, from highly adaptable urban generalists like the rock dove and wood pigeon to specialist long-distance migrants dependent on a narrower diet and specific farmland conditions, like the turtle dove, the family spans an unusually wide range of conservation outcomes, from thriving, expanding populations to species experiencing some of the steepest declines recorded among common European birds.","Photorealistic wildlife photography, a common wood pigeon and a European turtle dove perched together on a weathered farmyard fence rail, the pigeon's blue-grey plumage and white neck patch contrasting with the dove's warm rufous-scaled wing pattern, sharp focus on the turtle dove's eye in the foreground, soft-focus background of a summer hedgerow with dry grass seedheads, warm late-afternoon light from camera-left, shallow depth of field, telephoto lens compression, 16:9",{},true,null,"family","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fgolubinye","13.07.2026",1,[114,118,122],{"label":115,"path":116,"description":117},"Gulls (Laridae)","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fchaykovye","Another widespread and adaptable bird family",{"label":119,"path":120,"description":121},"Bird families","\u002Fsemeystva","Species grouped by taxonomic family",{"label":123,"path":124,"description":125},"Bird identifier","\u002Fopredelitel","Identify a bird you've seen by color, size, beak shape, habitat, and season",{"title":127,"description":128},"Pigeons and Doves (Columbidae) — traits and species","Columbidae, the pigeon family: stout-bodied birds that feed chicks on crop milk, from the urban rock dove to the declining turtle dove. Traits and species.",{"loc":110},"semeystva\u002Fgolubinye","QzRFxxIVjFwMXUIGReIwcL4aVzCh4lcl6g3w5FUUmE0",{"ru":107,"es":107},[],[135,140,145,150,155,160,166,169,174,179,184,189,194,199,204,205,210,216,221,226,231,236,241,246,251,256,261,266],{"title":136,"description":137,"path":138,"coverImage":139,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Buntings (Emberizidae)","The bunting family: sturdy, seed-eating farmland and open-country songbirds represented here by the vividly yellow-headed yellowhammer, one of Europe's most familiar hedgerow singers.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fovsyankovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fovsyankovye.png",{"title":141,"description":142,"path":143,"coverImage":144,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Crows, Ravens, and Allies (Corvidae)","The crow family: some of the most intelligent birds on Earth, from the tiny, sociable jackdaw to the giant common raven, united by cognitive sophistication and remarkable behavioral flexibility.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvranovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvranovye.png",{"title":146,"description":147,"path":148,"coverImage":149,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Cuckoos (Cuculidae)","The cuckoo family: slender, long-tailed birds best known for the common cuckoo's remarkable brood-parasitic lifestyle, tricking other species into raising its young.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fkukushkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fkukushkovye.png",{"title":151,"description":152,"path":153,"coverImage":154,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Falcons (Falconidae)","The falcon family: fast, direct-flying birds of prey with a distinctive hooked, tomial-toothed beak, found on every continent except Antarctica.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsokolinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsokolinye.png",{"title":156,"description":157,"path":158,"coverImage":159,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Finches (Fringillidae)","The true finch family: small, seed-eating songbirds with conical beaks ranging from the everyday chaffinch to the specialized, cone-prying red crossbill.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvjurkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvjurkovye.png",{"title":161,"description":162,"path":163,"coverImage":164,"publishedAt":165,"order":108},"Grebes (Podicipedidae)","The grebe family: highly specialized freshwater diving birds with lobed toes, elaborate courtship displays, and chicks that ride on their parents' backs while swimming.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpogankovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpogankovye.png","07.08.2026",{"title":115,"description":167,"path":116,"coverImage":168,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"The gull family: adaptable, highly social waterbirds ranging from the small, brown-hooded black-headed gull to the larger, plain-billed common gull, equally at home on coasts and inland waters.","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fchaykovye.png",{"title":170,"description":171,"path":172,"coverImage":173,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Hawks, Eagles, and Kites (Accipitridae)","The largest family of diurnal birds of prey, spanning soaring buzzards, forest-hunting goshawks, massive fish eagles, and scavenging kites united by a hooked beak and taloned feet.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fyastrebinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fyastrebinye.png",{"title":175,"description":176,"path":177,"coverImage":178,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Herons (Ardeidae)","The heron family: patient, statuesque wetland hunters with a coiled S-shaped neck and dagger-like bill, epitomized by the grey heron's motionless watch at the water's edge.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftsaplevye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftsaplevye.png",{"title":180,"description":181,"path":182,"coverImage":183,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Hoopoes (Upupidae)","A small family built around a single unmistakable species, the Eurasian hoopoe, known for its fan-like crest, curved probing beak, and unusual glandular nest defenses.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fudodovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fudodovye.png",{"title":185,"description":186,"path":187,"coverImage":188,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Larks (Alaudidae)","The lark family: streaked, ground-nesting birds of open farmland and grassland, best known for the extraordinary sustained soaring song-flight of the Eurasian skylark.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fzhavoronkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fzhavoronkovye.png",{"title":190,"description":191,"path":192,"coverImage":193,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Old World Flycatchers and Chats (Muscicapidae)","A family spanning the beloved orange-breasted robin, the vocally legendary nightingale, and the acrobatic pied flycatcher, unified more by ancestry and insect-catching habits than by appearance.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fmuholovkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fmuholovkovye.png",{"title":195,"description":196,"path":197,"coverImage":198,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Old World Orioles (Oriolidae)","A family of brilliantly colored but famously shy canopy songbirds, represented in Europe by the golden oriole, a bird more often identified by its fluting song than by sight.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fivolgovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fivolgovye.png",{"title":200,"description":201,"path":202,"coverImage":203,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Old World Sparrows (Passeridae)","The Old World sparrow family: small, sociable, seed-eating birds closely tied to human settlement, from the familiar house sparrow to its quieter, farmland-favoring relative the tree sparrow.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvorobyinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvorobyinye.png",{"title":5,"description":93,"path":110,"coverImage":92,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},{"title":206,"description":207,"path":208,"coverImage":209,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Plovers and Lapwings (Charadriidae)","The plover family: compact, large-eyed waders with short bills adapted for visual foraging, from the crested, iridescent northern lapwing to its smaller and plainer relatives.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Frzhankovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Frzhankovye.png",{"title":211,"description":212,"path":213,"coverImage":214,"publishedAt":215,"order":108},"Rails, Crakes, and Coots (Rallidae)","The rail family: laterally flattened marsh specialists built for slipping through dense reed beds, ranging from the secretive corncrake to the bold, aggressive Eurasian coot.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpastushkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpastushkovye.png","17.08.2026",{"title":217,"description":218,"path":219,"coverImage":220,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Starlings (Sturnidae)","The starling family: gregarious, iridescent, highly vocal songbirds represented in Europe by the common starling and its spectacular winter murmurations.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fskvorcovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fskvorcovye.png",{"title":222,"description":223,"path":224,"coverImage":225,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Storks (Ciconiidae)","The stork family: massive, long-legged wading birds with long straight bills, epitomized by the white stork's huge rooftop nests and dramatic overland migration to Africa.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Faistovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Faistovye.png",{"title":227,"description":228,"path":229,"coverImage":230,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Swallows and Martins (Hirundinidae)","The swallow family: sleek, long-winged aerial insect-hunters that spend most of their waking lives on the wing, from the red-throated barn swallow to the white-rumped house martin.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Flastochkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Flastochkovye.png",{"title":232,"description":233,"path":234,"coverImage":235,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Swifts (Apodidae)","The swift family: extreme aerial specialists that spend nearly their entire lives in flight, closer in ancestry to hummingbirds than to the swallows they superficially resemble.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fstrizhinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fstrizhinye.png",{"title":237,"description":238,"path":239,"coverImage":240,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Sylvia Warblers (Sylviidae)","A family of small, plainly plumaged, densely-vegetation-loving warblers prized far more for their voices than their looks, exemplified by the richly singing Eurasian blackcap.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fslavkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fslavkovye.png",{"title":242,"description":243,"path":244,"coverImage":245,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Thrushes (Turdidae)","The thrush family: medium-sized, powerful-singing ground foragers, from the glossy black common blackbird to the heavily spotted song thrush and the gregarious, flocking fieldfare.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdrozdovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdrozdovye.png",{"title":247,"description":248,"path":249,"coverImage":250,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Tits (Paridae)","The tit family: small, acrobatic, cavity-nesting songbirds from the bold, dominant great tit to the tiny, cache-obsessed coal tit, among the most familiar and intensively studied garden birds in Europe.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsinitsevye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsinitsevye.png",{"title":252,"description":253,"path":254,"coverImage":255,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Typical Owls (Strigidae)","The largest owl family, spanning the familiar tawny owl, tufted long-eared owl, and the giant Eurasian eagle-owl, united by forward-facing eyes, silent flight, and mostly nocturnal habits.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsovinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsovinye.png",{"title":257,"description":258,"path":259,"coverImage":260,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Wagtails and Pipits (Motacillidae)","A family of slender, long-tailed, ground-foraging songbirds best exemplified by the constantly tail-bobbing white wagtail, equally at home beside a river or in a busy town square.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftryasoguzkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftryasoguzkovye.png",{"title":262,"description":263,"path":264,"coverImage":265,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Waterfowl (Anatidae)","The waterfowl family: ducks, geese, and swans, unified by webbed feet, waterproof plumage, and a broad flattened bill, from the familiar mallard to the massive mute swan.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Futinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Futinye.png",{"title":267,"description":268,"path":269,"coverImage":270,"publishedAt":111,"order":108},"Woodpeckers (Picidae)","The woodpecker family: powerful, tree-climbing excavators built to hammer into wood, from the widespread black-and-white great spotted woodpecker to the crow-sized black woodpecker.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdyatlovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdyatlovye.png",[272,273,275],{"label":115,"path":116,"description":117,"coverImage":168},{"label":119,"path":120,"description":121,"coverImage":274},"\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Findex.png",{"label":123,"path":124,"description":125,"coverImage":276},"\u002Fimages\u002Fopredelitel\u002Findex.png",1787114560302]