Unlimited edition. 18 x 24 inch, museum-quality poster on matte paper.

Some fellow bird nerds will take a look at this poster and think, “Rock dove? He must mean rock pigeon.” I don’t. I use the common name rock dove (rather than the currently preferred rock pigeon) because:

1) Rock doves (a.k.a. pigeons) are fascinating, beautiful birds. Although ubiquitous in urban landscapes, they shouldn't be taken for granted or viewed with disgust. The older common name, rock dove, gives a bird too many people describe as a “flying rat” a little more dignity, if only because people associate doves with elegance, peace, and a beloved Christmas song.

2) The bird’s common name was changed from rock dove to rock pigeon by the American Ornithological Society in 2003. That’s recent history, and many ornithologists and bird nerds still use rock dove; reverting back to the better name would be fairly painless.

Whatever you call the bird, though, my color column interpretation of the iconic species will be cooing it up with a bunch of its peers this August, part of a show in San Francisco about pigeons - *cough* - rock doves. There’s a lot of individual variation in rock dove plumage. I created this column while referencing what ornithologists call the “ancestral bar pattern,” which is considered the standard plumage form. The many other patterns we see on our urban neighbors are attributable to post-domestication mutations.

Note: These archival poster prints feature rich, appealing colors. I encourage customers to take care in handling them until they are framed/protected for display; the darker colors on the matte paper can be scratched. They ship rolled, so customers need to flatten them before framing (or have their framer do so).

Charitable Sales Model: Whenever one of these poster prints is purchased, a charitable contribution equal to 10% of the print’s cost (or $3.60) is made to a nonprofit working to tackle environmental or social challenges. Read more about my charitable sales model here.