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Index of Subjects Pigeons? In Britain, one of the original homes of C. livia and where I grew up, the term 'rock dove' was unknown at least to us kids -- we called them wood pigeons. While they would nest in cliffs (Sibley) and abandoned quarries as well as under man-made structures like bridges, we usually encountered them nesting in wooded areas in low trees. Many varieties were domesticated much earlier for food and/or by 'pigeon fanciers' which strongly influenced Darwin in 'The Origin', where he cites them as a main example of the large range of variation that can be achieved by selective interbreeding -- he also raised varieties himself. Where I grew up there was also an extensive network of pigeon-racing enthusiasts, using 'homing pigeons'. They were also kept much earlier for food (pigeon pie?) and fertilizer in large, elaborate 'dovecotes' in UK and Europe from the Romans onwards (columbaria), many stone examples of which still survive. The modern expansion in the species apparently came from feral escapees that started interbreeding in the wild. It's a seemingly odd question to ask what interacting zoologists would call them, as I don't think that there is an extensive group of scientists who work on pigeons as such and who would worry about this (outside a perhaps dwindling subgroup of pigeon-using psychologists who use them in learning discrimination tests, because they can be taught to peck coloured keys in search of an associated reward). By contrast there are now probably tens of thousands of scientists using 'Drosophila', usually D. melanogaster, who mostly seem not to be worried that the genus name ought to be, and perhaps might even end up being, changed to Sophophora. Steve (Halifax) ________________________________________ From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] on behalf of Andrew Horn [aghorn@dal.ca] Sent: Friday, December 06, 2013 1:48 PM To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca> Subject: Re: [NatureNS] How scientists refer to pigeons Interesting question. Definitely "pigeon", except when jokingly trying to fancy up a lackluster birdlist with "Rock Dove". But I hadn't thought of Randy's point. E.g., I wonder what zoologists in the range of Band-tailed Pigeons would say. Andy On Dec 6, 2013, at 1:03 PM, Randy Lauff wrote: If it's clear by the context that I'm referring to the local bird, I just say "pigeon"; since we don't have any other species of pigeon, there should be no confusion. Randy _________________________________ RF Lauff Way in the boonies of Antigonish County, NS. On 6 December 2013 12:42, Gerald <naturens@zdoit.airpost.net<mailto:naturens@zdoit.airpost.net>> wrote: How do zoologists refer to the rock pigeon in conversation with other zoologists? I refer to Columba livia. Not in papers or presentations, just talking around the lab. For example, scientists usually say Drosophila instead of fruit fly or Drosophila melanogaster, and Strongylo to refer to Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. Thanks -- Gerald
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Index of Subjects