What is the difference between a pigeon and a dove? Well, this is where common names get you in a little bit of trouble, because pigeon and dove are a common name attached to an animal that really has very little bearing on what it actually is. For instance, the rock dove is also commonly known as the common pigeon. Now, to be a lot, be a lot more accurate we would use scientific names, and this would differentiate animals completely, and really, in the end, makes the whole question kind of moot because in the scientific names there are no pigeons or doves. That's the problem whenever you're dealing with any kind of common name for any animal. It can change change varying on location, the person you're talking to, colloquialisms, all kinds of things like that. So, really there's not there's not a lot of differences. They overlap a lot. The common pigeon, like I said, is also called the rock dove. And then there are like, you know, various doves like morning doves and Inca doves that aren't referred to as pigeons at all, so it it it gets kind of complicated. In the end, all I can really tell ya' is what's the difference between em? Well, essentially nothing because the names don't mean anything. If you want proper identification of any animal, really of any species; be it bird, reptile, mammal, fish, anything you really should be using a scientific name, because it's going to give you the exact exact name of that animal and not simply a common name that can be misconstrued by other people.