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Stock Dove

Stock Dove

Columba oenas

Identify the Stock Dove by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Stock Dove is a compact, blue-grey pigeon of the western Palearctic, from southern Fennoscandia south to north-west Africa and east to Central Asia. It nests in cavities rather than on open platforms. Western and southern birds are mostly resident, while north-eastern populations migrate. It has a pinkish breast, an iridescent green neck patch and dark wing edges, and often mixes with Wood Pigeons.

Did you know?

  • Its name refers to tree stumps, alluding to its habit of nesting in hollow trees.
  • It sometimes nests in rabbit burrows when tree holes are scarce.

Voice

Song

About the species

Identification

A medium-sized, blue-grey pigeon with iridescent patches on the sides of the neck and a grey panel on the upperwing bordered with black. It lacks the Wood Pigeon's white neck patch and white wing bars, and lacks the Rock Dove's white rump. The call is a soft, even, two-syllable “oo-hu”.

Family

Columbidae

Size

Large (crow)

Colours

grey, black, green

About the habitat

Mosaics of farmland, meadows and open woodland with old trees, parks and old orchards; also coastal cliffs.

Diet

Mainly seeds and grain of wild plants and crops, green shoots and buds, acorns and berries; occasionally small invertebrates.

Behaviour

Feeds on the ground in fields and along woodland edges, in small flocks outside the breeding season. Flight is fast and direct. In display the male circles with wing claps and glides. It nests in hollow trees, old Black Woodpecker holes, cliffs, rabbit burrows or large nest boxes and may breed several times a season. Both parents feed the young with crop milk. The song is a soft, repeated, grunting “oo-uh”.

Sources

Photo: Frank Vassen from Brussels, Belgium, CC BY 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pigeon colombin (Colulmba oenas), Parc de Woluwe, Bruxelles (51921513878).jpg

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC1107913, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/1107913

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

See also