The domestic pigeon (Columba liva domestica) is a domesticated subspecies of rock pigeon, or rock dove, in the pigeon family Columbidae. It is the oldest known domesticated bird, having been bred in Mesopotamia between 3000 and 8000 BCE. For thousands of years, pigeons were used as messengers (utilizing their excellent homing ability), food, and as symbolic holy animals. Because of these uses, pigeons spread far and wide around the world, inhabiting every region where their human keepers lived. However, as electronic communication made messenger pigeons obsolete, the birds were largely abandoned; as they took to the streets to survive on their own, people instead began to consider them vermin. Some people do still keep pigeons as pets, but the vast majority of the birds are now feral.
