Columba Livia Bird

English Name:  Rock Pigeon
Latin Name:  Columba livia
Protonym:  Columba domestica livia Syst.Nat. 1 pt2 p.769
Taxonomy:  Columbiformes / Columbidae / Columba
Taxonomy Code:  rocpig
Type Locality:  No type locality = southern Europe.
Author:  Gmelin, JF
Publish Year:  1789
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

COLUMBA
(Columbidae; Ϯ Stock Dove C. oenas) L. columba  pigeon; "92. COLUMBA.  Rostrum rectum, versus apicem descendens.  Nares oblongæ, membrana molli tumida semitectæ.  Lingua integra.  ... Columbas ad Passeres nec ad Gallinas pertinere, docet monogamia, osculatio, incubatus alternus, nutritio pulli, Ova pauca, nidificatio, locus in altis." (Linnaeus 1758); "Columba Linné, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, 1758, p. 162. Type, by subsequent designation, Columba oenas Linné. (Vigors, 1825.)" (Peters, 1937, III, p. 56). Linnaeus's Columba comprised twenty-two species (C. Oenas, C. gutturosa, C. cucullata, C. Turbita, C. tremula, C. tabellaria, C. montana, C. asiatica, C. guinea, C. hispanica, C. Palumbus, C. cyanocephala, C. leucocephala, C. leucoptera, C. nicobarica, C. macroura, C. sinica, C. indica, C. hispida, C. Turtur, C. risoria, C. passerina).
Var. Culumba, Collumba, Columbus, Colomba, Columra, Coulmba.
Synon. Alsocomus, Amauroenas, Coelotreron, Dendrotreron, Dialiptila, Janthoenas, Leucoenas, Leucomeloena, Leucotaenia, Lithoenas, Livia, Palumbis, Palumboena, Palumbus, Peleioenas, Raperia, Stictoenas, Sylvicola, Taenioenas, Trocaza, Tryzusa, Turturoena.

columba
● Icelandic Klumba auk; “Columba groenlandica Auctorum” (Pallas 1811) (“The Greenland Dove or Sea-Turtle; Columba Groenlandica” described by Ray 1713, is the Black Guillemot C. grylle; “Why they call it a Dove or Turtle I cannot certainly tell. It is indeed about the bigness of a Turtle, and lays (they say) two Eggs at once like them, and possibly there may be some agreement in their voice or note”) (Cepphus).
● L. columba  pigeon; "Fulmarus glacialis columba, subsp. nov.  PIGEON FULMAR.  ...  General plumage white.  Mantle pearly gray, rather darker than light phase of glupischa in my collection." (Anthony 1895) (syn. Fulmarus glacialis rodgersii).

Colymbus
Gr. κολυμβις kolumbis, κολυμβιδος kolumbidos  unknown water-bird, probably a grebe.
• (Gaviidae; syn. Gavia † Black-throated Diver G. arctica) "68. COLYMBUS.  Rostrum edentulum, subulatum, rectum, acuminatum.  Pedes pone æquilibrium. ...  Colymbi nequeunt incedere, et citissime super aquam currunt, & egregie urinantor." (Linnaeus 1758). “The question of the type of this Linnean genus is a serious one, and has caused a considerable discrepancy between the British and the American current nomenclature. In this country Colymbus is almost universally used for the Loons or Divers, in America for the Grebes [cf. "COLYMBUS, rostrum subulatum lateribus compressiusculum. Pedes lobati, Tibiæ postice carinato-serratæ" (J. R. Forster 1788)]. Linnaeus’ original genus contains four species - arcticus (Black-throated Diver), cristatus (Great Crested Grebe), auritus (Slavonian Grebe), and podiceps (American Pied-billed Grebe). Linnaeus does not designate any type, nor does an examination of his descriptions and synonymy throw any light on his intentions. The American argument is that Brisson in 1760 used Colymbus for the Grebes and Mergus for the Loons, and is thus the first reviser of the genus; but, in the first place, Brisson was not a binomialist, nor did he recognise or quote from Linnaeus’ work. He adopted the genus Colymbus from Moehring, not from Linnaeus, and in no sense can he be called a reviser of Linnaeus. On the other hand, Latham (Gen. Synopsis, Suppl. i. 1787, pp. 294, 295) very definitely adopted Linnaeus’ genus Colymbus for the Divers, and proposed Podiceps for the Grebes. A reference to the British Mus. Catalogue will show that up to 1882, when Stejneger (Proc. U.S. National Mus. v. 1882, p. 42) proposed to use Urinator for the Divers, the genus Colymbus had been almost universally applied to these birds. The Committee hope that the Check-List Committee of the A.O.U. will see their way to return to the older and, as they believe, to the correct usage of the genus Colymbus in the near future.” (BOU 1915). “Hope springs eternal in the human breast,” Colymbus Linnaeus, 1758, was suppressed by the ICZN in 1956 (see Gavia and Podiceps).
Var. Colymbas (Gr. myth. Colymbas was one of the Pierides, who, having failed to best the Muses in a singing contest, was transformed into a waterbird), Columbus, Colimbus.
• (Podicipedidae; syn. Podiceps † Great Crested Grebe P. cristatus) "Colymbus, Brisson, Ornith. vol. i. p. 50, vol. vi. p. 33, 1760.  Type (by tautonymy and subsequent designation, Reichenbach, Nat. Syst. Vög. p. iii, 1852 (1853): Columbus cristatus Brisson = C. cristatus L." (Mathews, 1927, Syst. Av. Austral. I, p. 103) (see above).

livia
Med. L. livia  rock dove. Gaza’s 1476 translation of Gr. πελεια peleia  dove, thought to be from πελλος pellos  dark-coloured; “named from its livid colour” (Turner 1544)  < L. livens, liventis  lead-coloured  < livere to be bluish; ex “Biset” of Brisson 1760, d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl.  510, and de Buffon 1770-1783. The Rock Dove is the ancestor of modern domestic and feral pigeons (Columba).

Livia
(syn. Columba Ϯ Rock Dove C. livia) Specific name Columba livia J. Gmelin, 1789; "Livie biset . . . .  / Livia vulgaris" (des Murs 1854).

SUBSPECIES

Rock Pigeon (livia)
Latin Name: Columba livia livia
livia
Med. L. livia  rock dove. Gaza’s 1476 translation of Gr. πελεια peleia  dove, thought to be from πελλος pellos  dark-coloured; “named from its livid colour” (Turner 1544)  < L. livens, liventis  lead-coloured  < livere to be bluish; ex “Biset” of Brisson 1760, d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl.  510, and de Buffon 1770-1783. The Rock Dove is the ancestor of modern domestic and feral pigeons (Columba).

Rock Pigeon (atlantis)
Latin Name: Columba livia atlantis
atlantis
Gr. myth. Atlantis, the celebrated vanished island (see Atlantisia) (syn. Cepphus grylle arcticus, syn. Columba livia, syn. Gypaetus barbatus, subsp. Larus michahelles, syn. Sylvia atricapilla gularis).

Rock Pigeon (canariensis)
Latin Name: Columba livia canariensis
canaria / canariensis / canarius
L. Canaria Insula  one of the Canary Is. < canis  dog.
● ex “Canaria” of Gessner 1555, and Aldrovandus 1599, “Passer canariensis” of Jonston 1653, and Willughby 1676, “Canary-bird” of Ray 1713, and “Fringilla rostro corporeque albicante, rectricibus remigibusque virescentibus” of Linnaeus 1746 (Serinus).

Rock Pigeon (gymnocycla)
Latin Name: Columba livia gymnocycla
gymnocycla / gymnocyclus
Gr. γυμνος gumnos bare, naked; κυκλος kuklos circle, ring, eye.

Rock Pigeon (targia)
Latin Name: Columba livia targia
targia / targius
Targi or Touareg, a nomadic Berber people of the western and central Sahara.

Rock Pigeon (dakhlae)
Latin Name: Columba livia dakhlae
dakhlae
Dakhla Oasis, Egypt.

Rock Pigeon (butleri)
Latin Name: Columba livia butleri
butleri
● Arthur Lennox Butler (1873-1939) British tea-planter in Ceylon, collector, Curator of Selangor State Mus., Malaya, Superintendent of Game Preservation in Sudan 1901-1915 (syn. Anomalospiza imberbis, subsp. Ardeotis arabs, syn. Cinnyris osea decorsei, syn. Cisticola cantans concolor, syn. Columba livia schimperi, syn. Eremopterix nigriceps albifrons, syn. Lagonosticta larvata nigricollis, subsp. Phylloscopus castaniceps, subsp. Ptilopachus petrosus, syn. Upupa epops).
● Lt.-Col. Edward Arthur Butler (1842-1916) British Army in Gibraltar, India and South Africa, collector, taxidermist, ornithologist (Accipiter, syn. Anthus chloris, Strix).

Rock Pigeon (schimperi)
Latin Name: Columba livia schimperi
schimperi
Georg Heinrich Wilhelm Schimper (1804-1878) German botanist, explorer, collector in North Africa, the Middle East and Abyssinia (subsp. Columba livia, syn. Saundersilarus saundersi, syn. Thamnolaea cinnamomeiventris albiscapulata).

Rock Pigeon (palaestinae)
Latin Name: Columba livia palaestinae
palaestinae
L. Palaestina, Palaestinae Palestine.

Rock Pigeon (gaddi)
Latin Name: Columba livia gaddi
gaddi
Georgiy Georgievich Gadd (1875-1918) Finnish zoologist, explorer in Persia with Zarudny 1903-1904 (Björn Bergenholtz in litt.) (subsp. Columba livia, subsp. Montifringilla nivalis, syn. Oenanthe hispanica melanoleuca, subsp. Periparus ater, syn. Saxicola rubicola).

Rock Pigeon (neglecta)
Latin Name: Columba livia neglecta
neglecta / neglectum / neglectus
L. neglectus  ignored, overlooked, neglected, disregarded  < neglegere  to neglect.

Rock Pigeon (intermedia)
Latin Name: Columba livia intermedia
intermedea / intermedia / intermedianus / intermedium / intermedius
L. intermedius  intermediate, that is between (cf. Late L. intermedium  intervention, between two others; Med. L. intermedium  interval).  These epithets are common in ornithology, highlighting forms considered to have intermediate plumage, size, distribution, etc.; only a few are shown below.
• “Genus Ardea.   ...   A. intermedia.  ...  Habitat in insula Java.  Simillima habitu ac colore Ardeae flavirostri, eadem dimidio fere minor.” (Wagler 1829) (Ardea).
• "73.  Coracina papuensis papuensis Gm.   ...   The birds from the Snow Mts. are exactly intermediate between C. p. papuensis from N. W. New Guinea and C. p. meekiana from S. E. New Guinea; so I propose to call the race found on the south side of the Central Range.   Coracina papuensis intermedia subsp. nov." (Rothschild 1931) (subsp. Coracina papuensis).
• "Ce tinamou présente, comme nous l'avons dit, des caractères de transition entre Calopezus elegans et Calopezus formosus.  Cette nouvelle espèce, ou peut-être race intermédiaire, qui paraît localisée dans les régions montagneuses du Nord-ouest de la République Argentine, nous la distinguerons avec le nom de:  Calopezus intermedius n. sp.   ...   Il est possible que Calopezus intermedius et Calopezus formosus représentent seulement des formes géographiques de Calopezus elegans" (Dabbene & Lillo 1913) ( subsp. Eudromia elegans).
• "Formicivora   ...   F. grisea  ...  Kommt in Brasilien, Cayenne und Guiana vor.   ...   F. rufatra  ...  Vaterland: Brasilien und Bolivien.   ...   F. intermedia.  ...  Vaterland: Columbien" (Cabanis 1847) (Formicivora).
• "Falco pondicerianus apud Horsfield is a race intermediate to Haliastur indus of India proper and H. leucosternum of Australia, having dark central streaks to the white portion of the plumage, but considerably less developed than (constantly) in the Indian bird..  ...  Of very many examples of the Indian race examined or beheld close, I certainly have never seen one that had the dark streaks or lines so little developed as in the Javanese bird, or most assuredly I should have remarked it.  To what extent the Indian and Australian races may thus grade into each other, in other intermediate localities, remains to be ascertained.  ...  Mr. Gurney informs me that he thinks the Javanese race should be distinguished by the name intermedius." (Blyth 1865) (subsp. Haliastur indus).
• "Then we have in Tenasserim, most abundant in the hills, but extending in the cold weather to the sea-board and the plains of Pegu, a race of melaschistus, which I will, for convenience sake, denominate VOLVOCIVORA  INTERMEDIA.  It is very close to melaschistus, and as such I originally identified it, but with 24 specimens before me I find that sex being ascertained no specimen of it can be mistaken for a specimen of the corresponding sex of melaschistus, but it is much the same size, and the old males are nearly as possible the same colour as the females of melaschistus.  ...  I am very doubtful whether this should be considered a subspecies or not, but it is a very distinguishable and perfectly constant race, and not one single specimen of true melaschistus has occurred to us throughout the region in which it is so abundant, and it may be best therefore to characterize it by a distinct name." (Hume 1877) (subsp. Lalage melaschistos).
• "5.  SETOPHAGA  INTERMEDIA, Nob.  ...  Espèce typique intermédiaire entre la S. vulnerata et la S. verticalis, Lafresn.  Elle diffère de la première par un bec plus grand et plus large, par la gorge cendrée, par le coloris de la queue, par la couleur de l'abdomen; la S. verticalis, Lafr. est jaune d'œuf en dessous." (Hartlaub 1852) (subsp. Myioborus miniatus).
• "3. CRYPTOLOPHA  INTERMEDIA  La Touche, sp. n.   Near C. tephrocephala (Anders.) and C. affinis (Hodgs.).  Differs from the former in having a much shorter bill, and the secondary coverts distinctly tipped with pale yellow, forming a well-marked bar; from C. affinis it differs in having a ring of feathers round the eye, yellow." (La Touche 1898) (Phylloscopus).
• “728. —  Pipreola viridis intermedia  ...  Forme intermédiaire entre la P. viridis de la Bolivie et la P. melanolæma de l’Ecuador, plus voisine de la dernière.” (Taczanowski 1884) (Pipreola).
• "Ploceus intermedius.  Sehr nahe mit meinem Ploceus larvatus verwandte Art.  Vorderkopf bis über den hintern Augenwinkel, Kehle, Oberhals und Ohrengegend schwarz, Hinterkopf und Nacken röthlich braungelb.  Mitte der Brust orangengelb, Seiten des Halses und Unterkörpers citrongelb.  Rücken gelbgrün, gegen den Schwanz hin citronengelb." (Rüppell 1845) (Ploceus).
• “This species is somewhat intermediate between Palaeornis schisticeps and P. cyanocephala in size and coloration, but is nearer P. schisticeps” (Rothschild 1895) (syn. Psittacula cyanocephala x Psittacula himalayana).
• "RHIPIDURA  INTERMEDIA, sp. nov.  ...  Dr. Sharpe's description of Rhipidura rufifrons in the "Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum," vol. iv., p. 319 (1879), evidently applies to this species, for he describes the tail feathers as being "distinctly tipped with white."  The type of Rhipidura rufifrons characterized by Dr. Latham, was obtained in New South Wales, and has the tips of the tail feathers pale brown, not white.  In the latter respect Rhipidura intermedia agrees with R. torrida, described and figured (Proc. Zool. Soc., 1865, p. 477, pl. xxviii.) by Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace, from the island of Ternate, but R. torrida differs from R. intermedia in having the ear-coverts and upper breast black." (North 1902) (subsp. Rhipidura rufifrons).
• "Sp. intermedia n. sp.  ... Der [Sp.] hypoleuca im Schnabel und der ganzen Gestalt äusserst ähnlich, nur etwas kleiner, von dieser durch die nicht weisse, sondern graue Färbung der Kehle und Brust verschieden, mithin fast ganz so gefärbt wie Sp. plumbea, von welcher intermedia sich nur unterscheidet durch den grössern Schnabel und die kürzeren abgerundeteren, daher nicht so zugespitzten Flügel; auch sind Kehle und Brust etwas dunkler als in plumbea und fehlt das weisse Fleckchen an der Wurzel des Unterkiefers; der weisse Spiegel auf dem Flügel ist kleiner und versteckter" (Cabanis 1851) (Sporophila).
• "Thamnistes anabatinus intermedius subsp. nov.  ...  This form, based on but one specimen, is clearly an intermediate between T. æquatorialis of eastern Ecuador and southeastern Colombia, and the quite different T. anabatinus group of Panama to Mexico.  Its crown and back closely agree in color with those of æquatorialis while the underparts are similar to those of T. a. coronatus; the tail and wings externally are intermediate but nearer to those of coronatus." (Chapman 1914) (subsp. Thamnistes anabatinus).
• "33.  Thamnophilus intermedius, sp. nov.   SP. CHAR.—Adult male: Similar to that of T. nigricristatus LAWR., but bill larger, and feathers of crest largely white in middle portion; adult female similar to that of T. doliatus, but with larger bill." (Ridgway 1888) (subsp. Thamnophilus doliatus).
• "ZOSTEROPS  INTERMEDIA.  ...  Very near Z. flava, but a little larger, more yellow on the forehead and less on the upper tail-coverts, and the black subocular streak not extending so far forward  ...  Hab. Macassar and Lombock.   Remark.—Mr. G. R. Gray attached the MS. name of intermedius to my Macassar specimen." (Wallace 1864) (subsp. Zosterops chloris).

Rock Pigeon (nigricans)
Latin Name: Columba livia nigricans
nigricans
L. nigricans, nigricantis  blackish, swarthy  < nigrare  to be black  < niger  black.
● ex “Suirirí chorrendo” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 182 (syn. Hymenops perspicillata).
● ex “Ypacahá obscuro” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 371 (Pardirallus).
● ex “Brunoir” of Levaillant 1802, pl. 106, fig. 1 (Pycnonotus).
● ex “Tachurí obscurito menor” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 167 (Ridgwayornis).