Motley Crew

There's a flock of pigeons that hang out around my house on a regular basis, usually only around ten individuals that sit on the telephone wire across the street.  But sometimes other small flocks congregate and it swells to around 30 or 40 birds.  The birds that I call pigeons are actually rock doves.  Here's what a rock dove is supposed to look like.

Source:  Wikipedia

That's what the majority of 'my' pigeons look like.  But there are a few that look entirely different with a mottled appearance and no two black bars on their wings which distinguish the rock dove and they are more brown in color than the typical gray.

The species Rock Dove also includes domesticated pigeons called fancy pigeons bred by pigeon 'fanciers' of which there are hundreds of breeds.  Escaped domestic pigeons have created feral populations all over the world, some of which I'm sure that have infiltrated flocks of wild rock doves.  One domesticated breed is called the Tippler which looks like this.

Source:  Wikipedia

Hmm.  That's the closest I could find to my strange looking pigeons.  Maybe a combination of several different breeds?  I do like the name anyway.  Love to be able to say, 'Who knew there was a Tippler in the crowd.'