Birds
Wood Pigeon
Columba palumbus · also called common wood pigeon, ringdove, culver
The wood pigeon is the big, soft-grey pigeon on the garden lawn, the one that crashes out of a hedge with a clatter of wings and coos its lazy five-note song from a rooftop all summer. Once a shy farmland bird kept in check by shooting, it is now one of the most numerous birds in Britain and a fixture of European towns.
Overview
Columba palumbus is the largest pigeon in Britain and much of Europe, about 40 cm long, blue-grey with a pinkish breast, a bold white patch on each side of the neck, and a broad white wing bar obvious in flight. It eats almost only plant food — rape and clover leaves, grain, peas, acorns, and berries — and it lives in woodland, farmland, parks, and gardens.
A bird that moved to town
For centuries the wood pigeon was a wary bird of fields and forest, shot heavily as a crop pest. Over the last few decades it has lost its fear of people and spread into gardens, parks, and city centres, helped by the huge acreage of leafy winter crops like oilseed rape and by safe nest sites in street trees. It remains the most damaging bird pest of British arable farming.
Milk-fed young
Like all pigeons, both parents feed the chicks on crop milk, a rich secretion from the crop lining, which lets wood pigeons breed on a seed diet from early spring into autumn, raising two or three broods a year.
Status
The wood pigeon is Least Concern and increasing, with millions of breeding pairs in Britain alone and a range and town-going habit that have both expanded sharply in recent decades.
Wood Pigeon: common questions
What is the difference between a wood pigeon and a feral or town pigeon?
The wood pigeon is bigger, longer-tailed, and heavier-bodied, with a small-looking head, a pinkish breast, a white patch on each side of the neck, and a bold white bar across each wing that shows clearly when it flies. The feral pigeon, descended from the wild rock dove, is smaller and more compact, usually grey with two dark wing bars and a white rump, though feral birds come in many colours from near-black to rusty to white. Feral pigeons flock on buildings, ledges, and city squares; wood pigeons prefer trees, lawns, and open fields, though both now share parks and gardens.
Why has the wood pigeon become so common in towns?
Several changes have favoured it. Modern farming grows huge areas of oilseed rape and other leafy crops that give wood pigeons abundant winter food, so more birds survive to breed. At the same time the birds have become far less wary of people, probably because shooting and disturbance are much lower in built-up areas, and gardens, parks, and street trees provide safe nest sites and year-round food from lawns, ornamental berries, and bird tables. A bird that was once a shy target of farmland pest control is now one of the most numerous and visible birds in European cities.
Are wood pigeons a pest?
To arable farmers, yes. The wood pigeon is regarded as the most damaging bird pest of agriculture in Britain, feeding in large flocks on oilseed rape, clover, peas, brassicas, and newly sown or ripening grain, and a big winter flock can strip a field. Farmers use gas guns, scarecrows, kites, and licensed shooting to protect crops. In gardens the damage is minor by comparison, mostly pecked brassicas and vegetable seedlings, and many people enjoy the birds. Wood pigeons are not a significant disease risk to humans.
What does a wood pigeon's call sound like?
It is a soft, husky, five-note coo, repeated several times and then ending abruptly, often written as a phrase to help remember the rhythm, such as "take TWO cows, Taffy" or "my TOE bleeds, Betty". It is delivered from a perch, usually in spring and summer, and is one of the characteristic background sounds of the European countryside and of leafy suburbs. It is quite different from the faster, rolling coo of a collared dove or the throaty croon of a feral pigeon. Males also make a sharp wing-clap during their switchback display flight.