Pigeons And Doves

This group gathers Birds subcategory members belonging to the order Columbiformes, the pigeons and doves, together with the sandgrouse, a small group of birds classified in their own order but close enough relatives to sit naturally alongside pigeons rather than in this subcategory's general catch-all group. Pigeons and doves are stout-bodied, small-headed seed and fruit eaters found nearly worldwide, unusual among birds for producing a nutrient-rich secretion in the crop, colloquially called crop milk, that both parents feed to their young in the first days after hatching. This group spans familiar urban and farmland species such as the rock pigeon, the ancestor of the domestic and feral pigeons found in cities worldwide, and the mourning dove, through to more striking tropical forms such as the large, crested Victoria crowned pigeon of New Guinea.