The generic name Columbicola comes from the Latin words columba, "dove," and -cola, "inhabitant," in reference to the genus's primary hosts.

[5][6] Like other members of the genus Columbicola, the insect is a long, slender louse that shows marked sexual dimorphism in the antennae, as the male's are much longer than those of the female in the third segment.

[5] The male's head is between 0.52 and 0.59 mm (0.020 and 0.023 in) long and broadens to form a slight shoulder at the anterior plate.

[5] The band-tailed pigeon lives along the Pacific coast of North America from southern British Columbia to northern Baja California.

[7] While its second known host, the passenger pigeon, was extant, the louse could also be found in eastern North America from southern Canada south to the Gulf Coast and northern Florida; due to the passenger pigeon's extinction, the louse is now extirpated from this side of the continent.