Common wood pigeon

"Woodpigeon" redirects here. For other uses, see Wood pigeon (disambiguation).

The common wood pigeon (Columba palumbus), also known simply as the wood pigeon, is a large species in the dove and pigeon family (Columbidae), native to the western Palearctic. It belongs to the genus Columba, which includes closely related species such as the rock dove (Columba livia). It has a flexible diet, feeding mainly on plant material, including cereals, and is therefore considered an agricultural pest. Wood pigeons are extensively hunted over much of their range, but this does not appear to have a major impact on their population numbers.

Common wood pigeon Temporal range: Middle Pleistocene–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Perched on a garden fence post, England
Song
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Columbiformes
Family:	Columbidae
Genus:	Columba
Species:	C. palumbus
Binomial name
Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758
Global range   Year-round range   Summer range   Winter range

Common wood pigeon perched on a fence. Photograph taken in Cambridge, England

Taxonomy

The common wood pigeon was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other pigeons in the genus Columba and coined the binomial name Columba palumbus.^[2] The specific epithet palumbus is an alternate form of the Latin palumbes for a wood pigeon.^[3][4]

Five subspecies are recognised, one of which is now extinct:^[5]

• C. p. palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 – Europe to western Siberia and Iraq; Northwest Africa
• † C. p. maderensis Tschusi, 1904 – Madeira (extinct)
• C. p. azorica Hartert, 1905 – the eastern and central Azores
• C. p. iranica (Zarudny, 1910) – southwestern and northern Iran to southwestern Turkmenistan
• C. p. casiotis (Bonaparte, 1854) – southeastern Iran and Kazakhstan to western China, northwestern India and Nepal

† = extinct

Fossil records of the species are known from the early Middle Pleistocene of Sicily.^[6]

Description

Adult common wood pigeon, photograph taken in Birmingham, England

The three Western European Columba pigeons, common wood pigeon, stock dove and rock dove, though superficially alike, have very distinctive characteristics; the common wood pigeon may be identified at once by its larger size at 38–44.5 cm (15–17+1⁄2 in) and weight 300–615 g (10+5⁄8–21+3⁄4 oz), and the white on its neck and wing.^[7] It is otherwise a basically grey bird, with a pinkish breast. The wingspan can range from 68 to 80 cm (27 to 31 in) and the wing chord measures 24 to 25.4 cm (9+1⁄2 to 10 in). The tail measures 13.8 to 15 cm (5+1⁄2 to 6 in), the bill is 1.9 to 2.2 cm (3⁄4 to 7⁄8 in) and the tarsus is 2.5 to 2.8 cm (1 to 1+1⁄8 in).^[8] Adult birds bear a series of green and white patches on their necks, and a pink patch on their chest. The eye colour is a pale yellow,^[9] in contrast to that of rock doves, which is orange-red, and the stock dove, which is black.

Juvenile lack the white patches on either side of the neck. When they are about 6 months old (about three months out of the nest) they develop small white patches on each side of the neck, which gradually increase in size until they are fully formed when the bird is about 6–8 months old. Juveniles also have a greyer bill and an overall lighter grey appearance than adults.

Distribution and habitat

In the colder northern and eastern parts of Europe and western Asia the common wood pigeon is a migrant, but in southern and western Europe it is a well distributed and often abundant resident. In Great Britain wood pigeons are commonly seen in parks and gardens^[10] and are increasingly seen in towns and cities. On May 2019, a single wood pigeon was sighted in La Romaine, Quebec, Canada, making it the only known record of the species in the Americas.^[11][12]

Behaviour

A flock of common wood pigeons feeding in a field

Adult sitting on its nest in a tree

Egg

Hatching of a Common Wood Pigeon

Its flight is fast, with regular beats and occasional sharp flick of the wing flaps, characteristic of pigeons in general. It takes off with a loud clatter. It perches well, and in its nuptial display walks along a horizontal branch with its neck swelled, wings down and tail outstretched. During the display flight, the bird climbs, the wings are smartly cracked like a whip, and the bird glides down on stiff wings. The common wood pigeon is gregarious, often forming very large flocks outside the breeding season. Like many species of pigeon, wood pigeons use trees and buildings to gain a vantage point over their surroundings, and their distinctive call means that they are usually heard before they are seen.

Wood pigeons are known to be fiercely territorial and will fight each other to gain access to nesting and roosting sites. Male wood pigeons typically use threat displays and pursuit to deter competitors, but will also engage in direct confrontation, jumping and striking their rival with both wings.^[13]

This species can be an agricultural pest, and it is frequently hunted, being a legal quarry species in most European countries. It is wary in rural areas, but often quite tame where it is not persecuted.

Breeding

Two young Columba palumbus in a nest

It breeds in trees in woods, parks and gardens, laying two white eggs in a simple stick nest which hatch after 17 to 19 days. Wood pigeons seem to have a preference for trees near roads and rivers. During the breeding season, males display aggressive behaviour towards each other, jumping and flapping their wings. Their plumage becomes much darker, especially the head, during hot summer periods. Breeding can occur throughout the year if there is food is plentiful; however, the breeding season is usually between April and October.

The nests are vulnerable to attack, especially by crows. The young usually fly at 33 to 34 days; however, if the nest is disturbed, some young may be able to survive having left the nest as early as 20 days after hatching.

In a study carried out using ring-recovery data, the survival rate for juveniles in their first year was 52 per cent, and the annual survival rate for adults was 61 per cent.^[14] For birds that survive the first year the typical lifespan is therefore only three years,^[15] but the maximum recorded age is 17 years and 8 months for a bird ringed and recovered on the Orkney Islands.^[16][17]

Diet

Most of its diet consists of plant matter, round and fleshy leaves from Caryophyllaceae, Asteraceae, and cruciferous vegetables taken from open fields or gardens and lawns; young shoots and seedlings are favoured, and they will take grain, pine nuts, and certain fruits and berries. In the autumn they also eat figs and acorns, and buds of trees and bushes in winter. They will also eat larvae, ants, and small worms. They need open water to drink and bathe in. Young common wood pigeons quickly become fat, as a result of the crop milk fed to them by their parents. This is an extremely rich fluid that is produced in the adult birds' crops during the breeding season.^[18][19]

Calls

The call of the wood pigeon is a monotonous five-syllable characteristic cooing phrase, "oooh, oooh, ooh, ooooh, ooh",^[20] usually repeated several times. In Ireland and the UK, the traditional mnemonic for this repeated cooing phrase has been interpreted as "Take two cows, Teddy", or "Take two cows, Taffy".^[21][22] Other interpretations include "I am a pigeon",^[23] "My toe bleeds, Betty",^[24] and "I don't want to go".^[25] However the whole call begins and ends part-way through the mnemonic phrase,^[26] thus: "two cows Teddy, take two cows Teddy, take two cows Teddy, take".

Predators

Predators of the wood pigeon typically include the Eurasian sparrowhawk, Eurasian goshawk and domestic cat.^{[citation needed]} The eggs and babies of wood pigeons are also often predated by magpies and crows.^[27]

Hunting

The wood pigeon is hunted extensively over much of its range, with millions of birds being shot annually,^[28] in part because it has been regarded as an agricultural pest, especially of cereal crops. In 1953, the British Government introduced a subsidy for the cost of cartridges to sport-hunters of wood pigeons, which was later abolished in 1969.^[29]

In culture

The wood pigeon is mentioned several times in the Eclogues written by the ancient Roman poet Virgil. Referring to its distinctive husky call, Virgil writes in Eclogue 1;

Here beneath high rocks
The gatherers of leaves, with cheerful songs
Fill the high winds. Meanwhile thy turtle doves
And hoarse wood pigeons from the lofty elms

Make endless moan.^[30]