Building a Home in the City: Exploring the Influence of Urbanization on Rock Pigeon Nest Architecture
Author: Julia Rolls
Faculty Supervisor: Jaime Chaves
Department: Biology
The most cosmopolitan pigeon species is the rock pigeon found in both urban and rural settings. Because of their human-influenced evolutionary past, they are highly dependent on urbanized locations for survival, which may account for some of their poor nesting architecture. My aim is to investigate the impact of urbanization on pigeons' nesting structure. I explored survey information gathered on Rock Pigeon nests in both rural and urban areas. I then assessed the methods used by pigeons in these various habitats to build their nests by estimating the approximate number of twigs, the amount of debris present, and the ratio of each in comparison.The manner they construct their nests is obviously influenced by the disparity in resources, but the environment also affects the success rates of their progeny. Examining the differences in nesting can help us understand the contrast in reproductive success in pigeons in both urban and rural environments.