The term is probably of Scandinavian origin; the Swedish word skvabb means "loose, fat flesh".[2] It formerly applied to all dove and pigeon species, such as the wood pigeon, the mourning dove, the extinct-in-the-wild socorro dove, and the now-extinct passenger pigeon,[3][4] and their meat. More recently, squab meat comes almost entirely from domesticated pigeons. The meat of dove and pigeon gamebirds hunted primarily for sport is rarely called squab.[3]