A Wild Dove Chase | Will Smith
Collaborative annual lecture with the British Ornithological Club.
The Rock Dove (Columba livia) is the wild form of the domestic pigeon. Unlike the domestic pigeon, which is one of the most well-studied birds, the Rock Dove has been overlooked by biologists in recent decades. Following hybridisation with feral domestic pigeons, Rock Doves are now extinct across much of Europe.
Our work in the UK and Ireland identified Rock Dove populations which have experienced limited interbreeding with feral pigeons. As well as having important conservation implications, the identification of such populations provides scientific opportunity – both as a case study with which to study the process of ‘extinction by hybridisation’, and by providing a valuable natural comparison of interest to the many scientists who study domestic pigeons in laboratories.
Will Smith is based in Oxford, where he recently completed a PhD in Zoology at the Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology. He studies avian genomics, using Rock Doves in Scotland and Ireland as a case study to explore wild-domestic hybridisation. He is also interested in Britain’s non-native birds, the impact of parasite infection on evolution, and the application of citizen science in zoological monitoring. Find him on Twitter at @WJSmith97.
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