Pigeons are probably one of the easiest birds to overlook in Panama. You can walk through Panama City, sit outside a restaurant, wait for a bus or wander around a plaza and there they are, walking around your feet as if they own the place. Most people barely notice them. They are not brightly colored like a toucan, they do not have the spectacular calls of some of Panama's forest birds and they certainly do not attract the same attention as a sloth or a monkey. But pigeons in Panama have a surprisingly interesting story, because the bird most people simply call a pigeon is actually an introduced species living alongside a whole collection of native pigeons and doves that are much less obvious.
The familiar city pigeon is the Rock Pigeon, also known as the Rock Dove, scientifically called Columba livia. In Panama it is considered an introduced species rather than a native bird. It is the classic pigeon found around buildings, streets, plazas, bridges, rooftops and urban areas. Avibase lists Rock Pigeon as an introduced species in Panama, alongside a surprisingly large selection of native members of the pigeon and dove family.
And this is where things get interesting. When most people think about pigeons, they picture the gray birds with the shiny green and purple feathers around their necks. But Panama has many other members of the same family. The country's bird lists include Pale vented Pigeon, Scaled Pigeon, White crowned Pigeon, Band tailed Pigeon, Ruddy Pigeon, Short billed Pigeon and several species of ground dove. There are also species such as the Plumbeous Pigeon and, more rarely, the Red billed Pigeon and Dusky Pigeon. So when you are walking through Panama's countryside and see a pigeon like bird flying through the trees, there is a good chance you are looking at something completely different from the ordinary city pigeon.
The Rock Pigeon is particularly successful around people because it is remarkably good at adapting to human environments. Tall buildings provide cliffs, roofs provide sheltered nesting locations and cities provide an enormous variety of food opportunities. In other words, humans have accidentally created an environment that works extremely well for a bird whose ancestors were associated with rocky cliffs and ledges. The modern city can look very different from a natural cliff face, but from a pigeon's perspective, a tall concrete building can serve much the same purpose.
There is also an incredible amount of variation in what city pigeons look like. Some are almost entirely gray, some have white patches, some are black, some are brown and others have mixtures of several colors. This can make people think they are looking at several different species. In reality, much of that variation comes from domestication and selective breeding over a very long period of time. Free flying feral pigeons can therefore look remarkably different from one another while still belonging to the same species. Cornell's eBird system even distinguishes between Rock Pigeon and particular domestic or feral forms when recording birds.
Pigeons also have a much deeper relationship with humans than simply hanging around our garbage and eating crumbs. Humans have kept and bred pigeons for thousands of years. They have been used for food, breeding, sport and communication. The famous messenger pigeon was not a different wild species magically trained to understand the postal system. It was the result of humans selectively breeding pigeons and taking advantage of their remarkable ability to return to a familiar location.
Their ability to navigate is one of the most fascinating things about them. Pigeons can travel considerable distances and find their way back toward their home location using a combination of environmental information and other sensory cues. Scientists have studied pigeon navigation for decades, and these ordinary looking birds have helped researchers understand animal orientation in ways that are far more complicated than their reputation as sidewalk birds would suggest.
Pigeons are also extremely successful breeders. Their ability to reproduce relatively quickly, combined with their ability to exploit human environments, helps explain why they can become so common in cities. They are not particularly fussy about where they live as long as they can find suitable shelter and food. This flexibility is one of the reasons they are found in urban areas throughout much of the world, including Panama.
But Panama's native pigeons tell a very different story. Some are forest birds that spend much of their lives high in the canopy, where they can be difficult to see unless you know what you are looking for. The Pale vented Pigeon, for example, occurs in Panama and belongs to the same family as the familiar Rock Pigeon, but its lifestyle is much more connected to natural vegetation than city sidewalks. The Scaled Pigeon is another forest species, and its patterned appearance is a reminder that the pigeon family is much more diverse than the birds we see around shopping centers and city streets.
The White crowned Pigeon is particularly interesting because it is listed as Near Threatened in Panama. That is a completely different conservation story from the Rock Pigeon, which has successfully adapted to human environments. The contrast is fascinating. One pigeon can be so common that people complain about them covering buildings and sidewalks, while another member of the same family can be much more dependent on natural habitats and face conservation pressures.
Panama's pigeon family also includes several ground doves. These tiny birds can look nothing like the stereotypical city pigeon. Common Ground Doves, Plain breasted Ground Doves and Ruddy Ground Doves are all recorded in Panama. They can spend much more time on or near the ground and can easily be overlooked because they are small and often blend into their surroundings.
The Ruddy Ground Dove is especially interesting because it is a familiar bird in much of tropical Central and South America. Instead of the chunky gray appearance people associate with city pigeons, it has a warm reddish brown appearance. Once you start paying attention to the pigeon and dove family in Panama, you quickly discover that the word "pigeon" doesn't describe one particular type of bird nearly as well as most people assume.
There is another introduced species worth mentioning too. The Eurasian Collared Dove has also established itself in Panama and is listed as an introduced species. It is generally slimmer and longer necked than the familiar Rock Pigeon and has a distinctive dark collar around the back of its neck. Its presence is another example of how human activity has moved bird species around the planet, sometimes allowing them to establish populations far outside their original ranges.
One of the strange things about pigeons is that their success has made people appreciate them less. If you see a toucan, you probably stop and look. If you see a hummingbird, you might reach for your camera. If a colorful parrot flies overhead, everyone notices. If twenty pigeons are standing beside a restaurant, almost nobody cares. Yet from a biological point of view, the pigeon is an impressive survivor. It has adapted to some of the most heavily modified environments on Earth and learned how to live alongside one of the most dominant species on the planet: us.
In Panama, that means pigeons have become part of the everyday landscape of modern life. They are part of the background noise of cities, part of the activity around public spaces and part of the strange collection of wildlife that manages to live alongside people. But step away from the city and into Panama's forests, and the story changes completely. Suddenly the pigeon family becomes something much more interesting, with forest species, ground doves, fruit eating birds and species that require careful observation to identify.
So the next time you see a pigeon walking across a Panamanian sidewalk, it is worth remembering that you are looking at an introduced bird with a remarkable history rather than simply another annoying bird looking for lunch. And if you are in the countryside and see something that looks vaguely like a pigeon disappearing into the trees, don't automatically assume it is the same bird. Panama has a surprisingly diverse collection of pigeons and doves, and some of them are hiding in plain sight.
The humble pigeon may never compete with Panama's toucans, quetzals, hummingbirds or parrots for the title of most spectacular bird. But perhaps that is exactly what makes it interesting. Some of Panama's most fascinating wildlife is obvious. Other wildlife is so familiar that we stop seeing it. The pigeon belongs firmly in the second category.