The family occurs worldwide, often in close proximity with humans, but the greatest diversity is in the Indomalayan and Australasian realms.

59 species are listed as threatened, and 13 are extinct,[2] including the dodo, an island bird, and the passenger pigeon, whose flocks were once counted in the billions.

In colloquial English, the smaller species tend to be called "doves", and the larger ones "pigeons",[3] although the distinction is not consistent,[3] and there is no scientific separation between them.

Doves and pigeons build relatively flimsy nests, often using sticks and other debris, which may be placed on branches of trees, on ledges, or on the ground, depending on species.

Doves were important symbols of the goddesses Innana, Asherah, and Aphrodite, and revered by the early Christian, Islamic and Jewish religions.

[8] Columbiformes is one of the most diverse non-passerine clades of neoavians, and its origins are in the Cretaceous[9] and the result of a rapid diversification at the end of the K-Pg boundary.

[10] Whole genome analyses have found the columbiformes form a sister clade of a group conformed by the sandgrouses (Pterocliformes) and mesites (Mesitornithiformes).

[11][12] The name 'Columbidae' for the family was first used by the English zoologist William Elford Leach in a guide to the contents of the British Museum published in 1819.

The sandgrouse (Pteroclidae) were formerly placed here, but were moved to a separate order, Pterocliformes, based on anatomical differences (such as the inability to drink by "sucking" or "pumping").

[24] These taxonomic issues are exacerbated by columbids not being well represented in the fossil record,[25] with no truly primitive forms having been found to date.

[citation needed] The genus Gerandia has been described from Early Miocene deposits in France, but while it was long believed to be a pigeon,[26] it is now considered a sandgrouse.

[27] Fragmentary remains of a probably "ptilinopine" Early Miocene pigeon were found in the Bannockburn Formation of New Zealand and described as Rupephaps;[27] "Columbina" prattae from roughly contemporary deposits of Florida is nowadays tentatively separated in Arenicolumba, but its distinction from Columbina/Scardafella and related genera needs to be more firmly established (e.g. by cladistic analysis).

[17] The dwarf fruit dove, which may measure as little as 13 cm (5.1 in), has a marginally smaller total length than any other species from this family.

[39] In a series of experiments in 1975 by Dr. Mark B. Friedman, using doves, their characteristic head bobbing was shown to be due to their natural desire to keep their vision constant.

[42] Columbidae have unique body feathers, with the shaft being generally broad, strong, and flattened, tapering to a fine point, abruptly.

Pigeons and doves are distributed everywhere on Earth, except for the driest areas of the Sahara Desert, Antarctica and its surrounding islands, and the high Arctic.

[56] This species had a large natural distribution from Britain and Ireland to northern Africa, across Europe, Arabia, Central Asia, India, the Himalayas and up into China and Mongolia.

[56] A 2020 study found that the east coast of the United States includes two pigeon genetic megacities, in New York and Boston, and observes that the birds do not mix together.

[69] Although habitat loss was a contributing factor, the species is thought to have been massively over-hunted, being used as food for slaves and, later, the poor, in the United States throughout the 19th century.

[74] Various conservation techniques are employed to prevent these extinctions, including laws and regulations to control hunting pressure, the establishment of protected areas to prevent further habitat loss, the establishment of captive populations for reintroduction back into the wild (ex situ conservation), and the translocation of individuals to suitable habitats to create additional populations.

[76] Thirty-two pigeons have been decorated with the Dickin Medal, citing their "brave service"[77] in war contributions, including Commando, G.I.

[citation needed] Cher Ami, a homing pigeon in World War I, was awarded the Croix de Guerre Medal, by France, with a palm Oak Leaf Cluster for his service in Verdun.

[79][76] When Cher Ami died, he was mounted and is part of the permanent exhibit at the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution.

[80] A grand ceremony was held in Buckingham Palace to commemorate a platoon of pigeons that braved the battlefields of Normandy to deliver vital plans to Allied forces on the fringes of Germany.

[81] Three of the actual birds that received the medals are on show in the London Military Museum[clarification needed] so that well-wishers can pay their respects.

[82] Other popular breeds are tumbling pigeons such as the Birmingham roller, and fancy varieties that are bred for certain physical characteristics such as large feathers on the feet or fan-shaped tails.

[86][87] In ancient Mesopotamia, doves were prominent animal symbols of Inanna-Ishtar, the goddess of love, sexuality, and war.

[88][89][91] The ancient Greek word for "dove" was peristerá,[88][89] which may be derived from the Semitic phrase peraḥ Ištar, meaning "bird of Ishtar".

[91] In the Hebrew Bible, doves or young pigeons are acceptable burnt offerings for those who cannot afford a more expensive animal.

[98] A pair of pigeons had built a nest and laid eggs at once, and a spider had woven cobwebs, which in the darkness of the night made the fugitives believe that Muhammad could not be in that cave.