page_title: Columba (genus)
section_title: Species
hierarchical_section_title: Columba (genus) / Taxonomy / Species
caption_attribution_description: Painting of the Lord Howe Island Pigeon, by George Raper
context_page_description: The large bird genus Columba comprises a group of medium to large pigeons. The terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used indiscriminately for smaller and larger Columbidae, respectively. Columba species – at least those of Columba sensu stricto – are generally termed "pigeons", and in many cases wood-pigeons. The rock dove, has given rise to the majority of domesticated pigeon breeds, such as the racing pigeon and the fantail pigeon some of which have become feral. Meanwhile, "wood pigeon" by itself usually means the common wood pigeon.
  This genus as understood today is native to the Old World, but some – notably the domestic and feral rock pigeon – have been introduced outside their natural range, for example in the Americas.
context_section_description: There are 35 species recognised in the genus of which two are extinct:
  Rock dove, Columba livia
  Hill pigeon, Columba rupestris
  Snow pigeon, Columba leuconota
  Speckled pigeon, Columba guinea
  White-collared pigeon, Columba albitorques
  Stock dove, Columba oenas
  Yellow-eyed pigeon, Columba eversmanni
  Somali pigeon, Columba oliviae
  Common wood pigeon or wood pigeon, Columba palumbus
  Trocaz pigeon, Columba trocaz
  Bolle's pigeon, Columba bollii
  Laurel pigeon, Columba junoniae
  Afep pigeon, Columba unicincta
  African olive pigeon, Columba arquatrix
  Cameroon olive pigeon, Columba sjostedti
  São Tomé olive pigeon, Columba thomensis
  Comoros olive pigeon, Columba polleni
  Speckled wood pigeon, Columba hodgsonii
  White-naped pigeon, Columba albinucha
  Ashy wood pigeon, Columba pulchricollis
  Nilgiri wood pigeon, Columba elphinstonii
  Sri Lanka wood pigeon, Columba torringtoniae
  Pale-capped pigeon, Columba punicea
  Silvery pigeon, Columba argentina – (thought to be extinct, rediscovered in 2008)
  Andaman wood pigeon, Columba palumboides
  Japanese wood pigeon, Columba janthina
  † Bonin wood pigeon,  Columba versicolor – extinct (c. 1890)
  † Ryukyu wood pigeon, Columba jouyi – extinct (late 1930s)
  Metallic pigeon or white-throated pigeon, Columba vitiensis
  White-headed pigeon, Columba leucomela
  Yellow-legged pigeon, Columba pallidiceps
  Eastern bronze-naped pigeon, Columba delegorguei
  Western bronze-naped pigeon, Columba iriditorques
  Island bronze-naped pigeon, Columba malherbii
  Lemon dove, Columba larvata – sometimes placed in Aplopelia
  A fossil species, C. omnisanctorum, was described from the Early Pliocene (5.3-3.6 Ma) of the Gargano Peninsula and surroundings, Italy. A supposed "falcon" fossil from nearby contemporary and Middle Pliocene (3.6-2.6 Ma) sites may either be of the same species or another pigeon; the name Columba pisana would apply for it or (if conspecific) for both. C. melitensis is a fossil pigeon from the Late Pleistocene of Malta. Only known from a coracoid described by Richard Lydekker in 1891, whether it is indeed distinct from the living species and not just a paleosubspecies needs to be studied, given its late age. Indeterminate remains of a Columba were also found in Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene (ELMMZ MN 17) deposits at Varshets (Bulgaria) and Šandalja (Croatia).
  Another prehistoric pigeon, C. congi, was described from Early Pleistocene remains found in the famous Zhoukoudian caves in China. This, too, needs to be studied regarding whether it is not just an ancestral population of a still-living species. An extinct pigeon, the Mauritian wood pigeon (Columba thiriouxi), was described in 2011. The validity of the species has been challenged and it is not generally recognised. The holotype is a right tarsometatarsus collected in 1910.
caption: The extinct Lord Howe pigeon (C. vitiensis godmanae) is known only from some travellers' reports
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