The sound a pigeon makes is one of the world’s most recognizable bird calls.
We’re talking about the trademark “coo.”
More specifically, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology describes a pigeon’s primary song as “Coo, roo-c’too-coo.”
Pigeons may seem to coo at everyone and everything, but the basic purpose of cooing is to communicate with other pigeons.
Let’s learn all about pigeons and their cooing. Below, we’ll answer these questions:
- Why do birds make sounds?
- Why do pigeons coo?
- Do all pigeon and dove species coo?
- What other sounds do pigeons make?
Why Do Birds Make Sounds?
Before we get into pigeons and their cooing, let’s review some bird song basics.
The avian sounds that are described as “songs” usually come from passerine species, also known as songbirds or perching birds. This group includes the melodic crooners you know from your backyard: cardinals, sparrows, mockingbirds, robins, and so on.
Passerines and other birds may put forth two types of sounds: calls and songs.
- Calls are simple and short
- Songs are more complex and often contain a pattern of notes
Calls are produced to maintain contact with group members or to sound an alarm. Songs are belted out to attract mates and defend territory.
Young songbirds learn the songs of their species by listening to their parents and other group members. The complex melodies are like folk tales passed from generation to generation.
Non-songbirds, like pigeons, make a less musical set of sounds that do not need to be learned. Sounds like a pigeon’s coo may be considered songs, but they’re simple and purely instinctual.
Why Do Pigeons Make a Cooing Sound?
Like the names of many animal sounds, “coo” is an onomatopoeia, i.e. a word that’s meant to sound like the noise it describes.
Cooing is short, repetitive, and flute-like with a pronounced “o” sound. It’s a bit like an owl’s hoot but shorter, quieter, and more conversational.
You can hear examples of pigeons cooing in this video.
Pigeons make sounds for various purposes, but they don’t have many notes in their repertoire. The “coo” sound is nearly always present in any pigeon vocalization.
The basic purpose of cooing, like most bird songs and calls, is to communicate with other group members.
Pigeons are noisy birds. Some form of cooing is a pigeon’s response to just about everything. So, situational factors and accompanying behaviors provide the best clues about why a pigeon is cooing.
For example, you may see a pigeon cooing while strutting, head nodding, chest puffing, and opening its tail feathers. That’s a male showing off for a female. An interested female may flutter her wings and spread her plumage while cooing back at the male.
Pigeon Cooing Between Mates and Potential Mates
Coo songs related to mating are grouped into these three categories:
- Bow-coo
- Perch-coo
- Nest-coo
A bow-coo consists of cooing accompanied by a bowing posture. This song is delivered by uncoupled males as a display to females.
Perch-cooing is also an advertisement by males to females, delivered from a highly-visible perched position.
Nest-cooing is performed by both males and females at or around a nest or potential nesting site.
Along with these mating calls, pigeons vocalize frequently as they go about their daily lives. Singing or calling occurs during feeding, to ward off intruders, or to express pleasure.
Do All Pigeon and Dove Species Coo?
The familiar pigeons that are so abundant in urban North American settings are not native to the continent. Europeans brought domestic rock pigeons to the US in the 1600s. Some escaped to the wild where they’ve thrived ever since as an invasive species.
Today, there are millions of pigeons in the US. They all descend from the escaped European domestics. These birds go by many names: rock pigeon, rock dove, domestic pigeon, feral pigeon, city pigeon.
Pigeons and doves are all in the same taxonomic family: Columbidae. In other words, there’s no difference between a pigeon and a dove. Species within the family are simply labeled with one name or the other.
There are 344 species In the Columbidae family. Do they all coo?
Well, it’s tough to sum up the calls of a group that large, but most pigeon and dove species make some sort of cooing sound. Each Columbidae species has its own set of sounds. What they tend to have in common is the flute-like tone that contains a distinct “o” sound.
For example, the Mourning Dove is named for its song that sounds like a mournful cry, with a “coo-OOO-oo-oo” call that peaks in the middle.
What Other Sounds Do Pigeons Make?
Pigeons have two primary sets of sounds: cooing and grunting. Of course, the grunting is also rather coo-like.
Compared to a coo, a pigeon’s grunt is lower and more throaty. The noise is brief—one or two seconds per grunt—and usually repeated in rapid succession.
Pigeons grunt when they’re alarmed or distressed. The noise may be made when a predator or intruder is detected or during any situation that presents a threat or problem.
Along with coos and grunts, pigeons are able to make a distinct sound with their wings. The sound is made by smacking wingtips together over the body, creating a sharp sound known as a wing clap.
Males sometimes clap their wings and then leap into the air in an aerial courtship display. The clap is like a pre-flight announcement, calling attention to the female audience.
Appreciating Pigeons and Urban Wildlife
Pigeons are abundant in cities around the world. The human response to sharing space with so many pigeons is varied. Some folks call them “rats with wings,” while others adore pigeons and enjoy feeding them.
The fact is, there are so many pigeons in urban settings because they descend from birds that were bred to be comfortable around humans and then transported around the world.
Feral pigeons descend from domesticated rock pigeons. They were bred as livestock, pets, and even for navigational assistance—pigeons have an instinctual ability to fly back to a home site from hundreds of miles away.
Today’s urban pigeons are highly intelligent and they’re comfortable around humans. They feel at home living around tall buildings, which resemble the cliff habitats that their rock pigeon ancestors call home.
Adaptable feeding abilities also help pigeons thrive among people. They’re generalist eaters, happy to eat a varied diet that includes lots of discarded human food.
Both male and female pigeons can create a secretion called crop milk or pigeon milk. Parents offer this protein-rich food to their young. This makes the task of raising offspring much easier, since pigeons don’t have to provide food items like insects or seeds directly to their young. As long as pigeon parents can find food for themselves, they can provide for their babies.
They’re an invasive species, but pigeons are a bird that modern humans around the world have learned to share space with.
Pigeons aren’t a prized sight for birdwatchers, but they’re a fascinating species. In fact, pigeons are one of the few wild animals that many city-dwellers have frequent contact with.
James has always been an avid outdoorsman. Since a kid, he kept a journal of all the different birds and species he saw. Now he wants to share his passion with other birders with Happy Birding!