Feeding ecology of blue rock pigeon (Columba livia) in the three districts of Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

Present paper provides information on the feeding regimens of the two genders of the blue-rock pigeon (Columba livia Linn.) in the sampled habitats of the three districts viz. Rawalpindi, Faisalabad and Bahawalpur of the Punjab province, Pakistan. This feral pigeon, considered ubiquitous species, inhabits both the grasslands and clumped environments to establish their roosts and nests. The study explored about comparable feeding proportions from three major habitats of the pigeons which were captured with medium sized mist-nets. For Rawalpindi in the winter season, the Zea mays was one of the predominant food item (30.6%) for males, and other ranked major food contents were (26.7%, 22.4% and 20.2%), and fairly similar feeding proportions were also recorded for the females (50.4%, 33.3%, 36.4% and 23.9%) for Carthamus oxyacantha, Hordeum vulgare, Triticum aestivum and Zea mays respectively. Evidently, no significant deviations in the existing food crops for the three sites for the feral pigeon were detected, which strongly suggested that the, modes of feeding habits among the sustainable roosts and nests which were closely located to food crops, exerted negligible impacts during intermittent pigeon foraging movements in the diurnal conditions.

Revision of some mensural measurements, food preference, and haematological parameters in breeding pairs of blue rock pigeon, Columba livia sampled from punjab Pakistan

“…They used small pebbles for the grinding, breaking down and digestion of large-sized grains. Our study was supported Ali and Ripley (1983), Batool et al (2020), Kaur and Dhanju (2013) and Robert (1991).…”

Impact of Supplementary Feeding on Feral Pigeon Abundance: A Brief Review

“…Feral pigeons usually display two types of foraging strategies around the globe: one is feeding directly on the streets around the town (Ryan, 2011;Murton et al, 2014) and the second is on nearby agricultural fields or grain storage units (Batool et al, 2020). There is also variation in the type of feed for feral pigeons which depends on the season of the year and their respective geographical location.…”

“…During the harsh winter days, when the soil is frozen and snow is covered, feral pigeons are dependent on public feeding and occasionally on garbage (Jhonston and Janiga, 1995). Similarly, pigeons visit agricultural fields and grain storage units in Punjab, Pakistan and Prague, Czech Republic (Kramarova, 1991;Batool et al, 2020).…”

Baseline study of the morphological and genetic characteristics of Haemoproteus parasites in wild pigeons (Columba livia) from paddy fields in Thailand

“…In Thailand, wild pigeons are an invasive species ( Round, 2019 ) distributed throughout the country — especially in lowland regions with large areas of paddy fields, such as Nakhon Sawan and Phitsanulok provinces. Wild pigeons are granivorous and frequently invade Thailand's paddy fields, which are increasing to meet rising rice export demands ( Batool et al, 2020 ; Thai Rice Exporters Association, 2000 ). As a result, the wild pigeon population in Thailand is rapidly growing and widely dispersed in paddy fields ( Tang et al, 2018 ).…”