Pigeons and Doves: Columbidae

Some pigeons and doves, including tropical fruit doves, are exclusively frugivorous, fruit-eating. Most species swallow fruit whole. After the flesh of the fruit is digested in the stomach, the pit is regurgitated, vomited from the stomach. Other pigeons and doves are granivorous, eating primarily grains and seeds. Seeds are typically picked from the surface of the ground or stripped from the stems of grasses. One species, the Galápagos dove, is known to use its curved bill to dig for hard seeds in the ground. Granivorous doves and pigeons may also eat leaves, stems, buds, and flowers when seeds are unavailable. A few pigeon and dove species eat primarily animal matter. This includes the atoll fruit dove of the Toamotu archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, which eats insects and small vertebrates, animals with backbones, such as lizards, and the Wonga pigeon of Australia, which eats insects and other invertebrates, animals without backbones. Pigeons and doves are also able to drink water by putting their bills underwater and sucking, an ability that is unusual in birds.