Pigeons and doves constitute the animal family Columbidae and the order Columbiformes, which includes about 42 genera and 310 species.
The related word "columbine" refers to pigeons and doves. Pigeons and doves are stout-bodied birds with short necks, and short slender bills that, in some species, feature fleshy ceres.
They primarily feed on seeds, fruits, and plants. This family occurs worldwide, but the greatest variety is in the Indomalaya and Australasia ecozones.
Pigeons and doves are likely the most common birds in the world.
Pigeon is a French word that derives from the Latin pipio, for a "peeping" chick,[2] while dove is a Germanic word that refers to the bird's diving flight.[3] The English archaism "culver" appears to derive from Latin columba, pigeon, dove.[2]
Doves and pigeons build relatively flimsy nests – often using sticks and other debris – which may be placed on trees, ledges, or the ground, depending on species.
They lay one or two eggs at a time, and both parents care for the young, which leave the nest after 7–28 days.
Unlike most birds, both sexes of doves and pigeons produce "crop milk" to feed to their young, secreted by a sloughing of fluid-filled cells from the lining of the crop.
Young doves and pigeons are called "squabs".