Pigeons and Doves: A Guide to the Pigeons and Doves of the World

This volume is dedicated to the field identification of pigeons and doves, and it incorporates much recent information on the family. Pigeons and doves are a large family of birds occurring throughout the world. Many species are specialist frugivores, while others feed on seeds. Most are arboral and the tropical species in particular are often brightly coloured. The family includes gregarious migratory species, as well as shy, ground-dwelling forms such as the exotic crowned pigeons of New Guinea.

Pigeons and Doves of the World

Only a few areas of the world, from the tropics to the cold temperate regions, are not inhabited by some kind of pigeon.Most authorities place all the pigeons and doves together in the family Columbidae, which includes such different birds as the strikingly patterened Snow Pigeon, the city-dwelling Feral Pigeon, the wandering Nicobar Pigeon, and the somber little Black-Winged Dove.
Dealing first with the family's nomenclature, adaptive radiation, colouration, and plumage sequences, Goodwinn then gives an account of many aspects of behaviour such as feeding habits, voice and other sound signals, display, pair formation, nesting and parental care, and escape.After enumerating the general characteristics of the group, he offers full descriptions of the species, with a synopsis of the behaviour and biology of each. Nearly all of the species descriptions are accompanied by a scrupulously accurate line drawing and a distribution map, and there are six colour plates.
Hardback; Monumental work of 363pp.

Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird

Domesticated since the dawn of man, pigeons have been used as crucial communicators in war by every major historical superpower from ancient Egypt to the United States and are credited with saving thousands of lives. They have been worshipped as fertility goddesses and revered as symbols of peace. Charles Darwin relied heavily on pigeons to help formulate and support his theory of evolution. Yet today they are reviled as “rats with wings.”
To research this lively history of the humble pigeon, the author travelled across the United States and Europe to meet with pigeon fanciers and pigeon haters in a quest to find out how we came to misunderstand one of mankind’s most helpful and steadfast companions. Pigeons captures a Brooklyn man’s quest to win the Main Event (the pigeon world’s equivalent of the Kentucky Derby), as well as a convention dedicated to breeding the perfect bird. The author participates in a live pigeon shoot where entrants pay $150; he tracks down Mike Tyson, the nation’s most famous pigeon lover; he spends time with Queen Elizabeth’s Royal Pigeon Handler; and he sheds light on a radical “pro-pigeon underground” in New York City. In Pigeons, Andrew D. Blechman reveals for the first time the remarkable story behind this seemingly unremarkable bird.

The Wood Pigeon: New Naturalist

ASIN : B0086UOZ66

• Publisher : Collins, (1 Jan. 1965)

Feral Pigeons

Feral pigeons are among the most familiar and abundant birds in the world, and yet they are rarely the subject of study. This monograph focuses on the population, biology, and behavioural ecology of feral pigeons, and includes an extensive bibliography.

The Passenger Pigeon

At the start of the nineteenth century, Passenger Pigeons were perhaps the most abundant birds on the planet, numbering literally in the billions. The flocks were so large and so dense that they blackened the skies, even blotting out the sun for days at a stretch. Yet by the end of the century, the most common bird in North America had vanished from the wild. In 1914, the last known representative of her species, Martha, died in a cage at the Cincinnati Zoo. This stunningly illustrated book tells the astonishing story of North America's Passenger Pigeon, a bird species that--like the Tyrannosaur, the Mammoth, and the Dodo--has become one of the great icons of extinction. Errol Fuller describes how these fast, agile, and handsomely plumaged birds were immortalized by the ornithologist and painter John James Audubon, and captured the imagination of writers such as James Fenimore Cooper, Henry David Thoreau, and Mark Twain. He shows how widespread deforestation, the demand for cheap and plentiful pigeon meat, and the indiscriminate killing of Passenger Pigeons for sport led to their catastrophic decline. Fuller provides an evocative memorial to a bird species that was once so important to the ecology of North America, and reminds us of just how fragile the natural world can be. Published in the centennial year of Martha's death, The Passenger Pigeon features rare archival images as well as haunting photos of live birds.

A Feathered River Across the Sky: The Passenger Pigeon's Flight to Extinction

When Europeans arrived in North America, 25 to 40 percent of the continent's birds were passenger pigeons, traveling in flocks so massive as to block out the sun for hours or even days. The downbeats of their wings would chill the air beneath and create a thundering roar that would drown out all other sound. John James Audubon, impressed by their speed and agility, said a lone passenger pigeon streaking through the forest "passes like a thought." How prophetic-for although a billion pigeons crossed the skies 80 miles from Toronto in May of 1860, little more than fifty years later passenger pigeons were extinct. The last of the species, Martha, died in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo on September 1, 1914.

The Passenger Pigeon

This special re-print edition of W.B. Mershon's book “The Passenger Pigeon” provides information on the rise, fall and eventual extinction of the legendary Passenger Pigeon. Written in 1907, only a few years before the last living Passenger Pigeon perished from this earth, in the decades previously, these birds could once be counted in the billions on the North American continent. Mr. Mershon, who had a lifelong fascination with these birds, starts with some of the earliest written accounts of them when they appeared in flocks so large that they could block out the sun and travels forward in time until the birds had completely vanished from the wild and had been reduced to a few specimens living in zoos. Note: This edition is a perfect facsimile of the original edition and is not set in a modern typeface. As a result, some type characters and images might suffer from slight imperfections or minor shadows in the page background.

The Silent Sky: The Incredible Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon

This nature novel, by following the hatching and lifetime experiences of the last know wild passenger pigeon, chronicles the life, natural history, and ultimate extinction of this species which was once the most abundant bird species in North America. The last wild bird was killed in 1900; the last captive bird died in 1914.

The Passenger Pigeon

Published in 1955 by the University of Oklahoma Press, this is the classic study of the extinction of the passenger pigeon. The passenger pigeon, once probably the most numerous bird on the planet, made its home in the billion or so acres of primary forest that once covered North America east of the Rocky Mountains. Their flocks, a mile wide and up to 300 miles long, were so dense that they darkened the sky for hours and days as the flock passed overhead. Population estimates from the 19th century ranged from 1 billion to close to 4 billion birds. Total populations may have reached 5 billion birds and comprised up to 40% of the total number of birds in North America. This may be the only species for which the exact time of extinction is known. No appreciable decline in the numbers was noted until the late 1870s but, thereafter, their destruction took only twenty-five years. The immense roosting and nesting colonies invited over-hunting. Tens of thousands of individuals were harvested daily from nesting colonies, and shipped to markets in the east. Modern technology hastened the demise of the passenger pigeon. With the coming of the telegraph, the locations of flocks could be ascertained, and the birds relentlessly pursued.

The Passenger Pigeon in Pennsylvania

This special reprint edition of John C. French's book “The Passenger Pigeon in Pennsylvania : The Remarkable History, Habits and Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon” contains some rare and fascinating information on the extinct, enigmatic pigeon breed. Written in 1919 this century-old tome covers a wide range of topics and issues related to the Passenger Pigeon including Retrospective Lore and Legend, Customs, Flights and Nesting Grounds, Rate of Reproduction and Decline, and Characteristics, Classification and Peculiarities to name but a few. An absolutely essential book for all Pigeon fanciers, serious breeders and Passenger Pigeon experts alike. Note: This edition is a perfect facsimile of the original edition and is not set in a modern typeface. As a result, some type characters and images might suffer from slight imperfections or minor shadows in the page background. At times, some of the photographs and illustrations can be a little less sharp than we are used to with modern digital printing processes.

A Message from Martha: The Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon and Its Relevance Today

September 1st, 2014 marked the centenary of one of the best-documented extinctions in history - the demise of the Passenger Pigeon. From being the commonest bird on the planet 50 years earlier, the species became extinct on that fateful day, with the death in Cincinnati Zoo of Martha - the last of her kind.

This book tells the tale of the Passenger Pigeon, and of Martha, and of author Mark Avery's journey in search of them. It looks at how the species was a cornerstone of the now much-diminished ecology of the eastern United States, and how the species went from a population that numbered in the billions to nil in a terrifyingly brief period of time. It also explores the largely untold story of the ecological annihilation of this part of America in the latter half of the 19th century, a time that saw an unprecedented loss of natural beauty and richness as forests were felled and the prairies were ploughed, with wildlife slaughtered more or less indiscriminately.

Indian Pigeons and Doves

This is a special re-print of the artwork of E.C. Stuart Baker's “Indian Pigeons and Doves” has not seen the light of day since it was first published in 1913. Included are detailed descriptions, observations and notes taken by Baker on his expeditions to India in search of the region's wild pigeon and dove species. Included are 51 different species, including the Snow Pigeon, the Bengal Green Pigeon, Nicobar Pigeons, Blue Hill Pigeons, Pink Necked Green Pigeon, Eastern Stock Pigeon, Purple Wood Pigeon, Persian Turtle Doves, Burmese Red Doves, the Indian Ring Dove, Spotted Doves and many more. The only book of its kind and a treasure for those interested in pigeons and doves, or the birds of the region. Note: This edition is a perfect facsimile of the original edition and is not set in a modern typeface. As a result, some type characters and images might suffer from slight imperfections or minor shadows in the page background.

Wild Pigeons and Doves

Numerous detailed full-colour drawings and photographs highlight brief descriptions of a variety of pigeons and doves, including pigeons and doves in captivity, American and turtle doves, American quail pigeons and doves, and rock, wood, and fruit pigeons.

• Publisher : TFH Publications (1 Oct. 1980)
• Language : English
• Hardcover : 189 pages
• ISBN-10 : 0876669682
• ISBN-13 : 978-0876669686
  

Pigeons and Doves in Australia

Possibly the most successful urban birds, pigeons and doves in the Order Columbiformes are one of the most easily recognised groups. They are an ancient and very successful group with an almost worldwide distribution and are most strongly represented in tropical and subtropical regions, including Australia. In most species simple plumage patterns feature mainly grey and brown with black, white or dull reddish markings, but the highly colourful fruit-doves include some of the most beautiful of all birds.
From dense rainforests of north Queensland, where brilliantly plumaged Superb Fruit-Doves Ptilinopus superbusare heard more easily than seen, to cold, windswept heathlands of Tasmania, where Brush Bronzewings Phaps elegans are locally common, most regions of Australia are frequented by one or more species. For more than a century after arrival of the First Fleet, interest in these birds focused on the eating qualities of larger species. In addition to contributing to declines of local populations in some parts of Australia, excessive hunting brought about the extinction of two species on Lord Howe Island and another species on Norfolk Island.

Life of the Pigeon

 "Skutch combines his personal knowledge of pigeons that he has watched near his Costa Rican home with a masterful summary of the published literature on Columbids of the world. . . . The doves and pigeons of the world are a fascinating lot. Alexander Skutch, aided by Dana Gardner, captures the essence of their life and presents it in an easily digestible form. Although scientists may be exasperated by some of the elements of the presentation, any student of birds will be enlightened and entertained by reading Life of the Pigeon."--Ornithological Literature