PIGEONS

Several types of pigeons found in the Darebin Parklands.
1) Spotted Dove (Streptopelia chinensis) - Since they were introduced into Australia from Asia in the 1860s, Spotted Doves have been very successful, expanding their range greatly to occur right along the east coast, as well as in parts of South Australia and Western Australia.

2) The native Crested Pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes) is a bird found widely throughout mainland Australia except for the far northern tropical areas. Only two Australian pigeon species possess an erect crest, the crested pigeon and the spinifex pigeon. The crested pigeon is the larger of the two species.

3) The native Common Bronzewing Pigeon (Phaps chalcoptera) is a large, bulky pigeon with a small head, found in all parts of Australia bar some of the deep desert, Cape York Peninsula, and urban areas. Its advertising call is an extraordinary mournful whooo repeated at metronomic intervals for an interminable length of time. Although rather wary by nature, birds in the urban fringes become quite used to humans.

4) Common Feral pigeons (Columba livia domestica), also called city doves, city pigeons, or street pigeons are pigeons that are derived from the domestic pigeons that have returned to the wild. The domestic pigeon was originally bred from the wild rock dove, which naturally inhabits sea-cliffs and mountains. Rock (i.e., "wild"), domestic, and feral pigeons are all the same species and will readily interbreed.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme.