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Common Wood Pigeon

Common Wood Pigeon

Columba palumbus

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The Common Wood Pigeon is Europe's largest pigeon, blue-grey with a pinkish breast, white neck patches and bold white wing bars. It thrives on a flexible, mostly plant-based diet, which often brings it into conflict with farmers, and it is widely hunted yet remains abundant. It has adapted well to parks, gardens and city centres. Northern and eastern birds migrate, often in huge flocks, while western and southern birds are mainly resident.

Did you know?

  • In 2019 a single Wood Pigeon in Quebec became the only known record of the species in the Americas.
  • Its wing claps in display flight can be heard from far away.

Voice

Song
Call
Alarm call

About the species

Identification

Europe's largest pigeon: blue-grey with a clear white bar across the wing and a white neck patch (lacking in juveniles). The long tail has a dark terminal band, and the legs are reddish. The neck patch and wing bar separate it from other pigeons.

Family

Columbidae

Size

Large (crow)

Colours

grey, white, black, yellow

About the habitat

Woodland edges, mixed forest, farmland with trees and hedges, parks and gardens.

Diet

Mainly plant matter: grain, seeds, leaves, young shoots, buds, berries, acorns and beech mast; occasionally small invertebrates. Both parents feed the young with crop milk.

Behaviour

Flight is fast, with a clattering take-off; in display the male rises steeply, claps its wings and glides down on stiff wings. The song is a deep, rhythmic five-note coo. Outside the breeding season it forms large flocks. The nest is a flimsy platform of twigs in a tree or tall bush, and pairs may raise several broods. It can become very tame in towns.

Sources

Photo: Alexey V. Kurochkin, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) near Yakhroma (IMGP3350r1).jpg

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC1107845, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/1107845

Sound: Crunchysaviour, Public domain https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wood_pigeon_call_128.ogg

Sound: Marie-Lan Taÿ Pamart, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Corvus_corone_-_Carrion_Crow_XC524682.mp3

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_wood_pigeon

See also