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Picture ©2005, , FBCP

Wood Pigeon - Columba palumbus
Also known as - Common Wood Pigeon

A common bird found in most areas of Europe, North Africa, and western Asia, common in the U.k. growing to 40 - 42cm (16in) with a wing span of 75 - 80cm (29 - 32in) and weighing about 450 - 550g (14 - 18oz). Overall grey in colour with a purple and green sheen, pinkish breast and green, white and purple patches on the neck, it's eye is a bright yellow. Juvenile birds are more brown and generally duller, lacking the white patch on the neck. Wood Pigeons have a tendency to "waddle" when they walk giving them an appearance of being overweight. A bold white bar across the middle of the wing is prominent during flight. Mainly a ground feeder they eat seeds, grain, berries and acorns (becoming a pest in agricultural areas, occasionally doing some damage to crops), but will feed on almost anything that is placed on a bird table. Eating mostly grain they tend to drink quite a lot because they do not get sufficient moisture from their food, unlike birds that eat earthworms, etc. Whilst drinking they use their beak like a straw, whereas other birds scoop the water up and throw their heads back to let it flow down their throats.

A fragile nest forming a platform is built from twigs by both sexes usually in a fork of tree branches or on a building, occasionally reusing Crow or Squirrel nests. Brooding upto 3 times a year between April and August, laying 2 white eggs per clutch that are incubated by both parents for about 17 - 18 days. The chicks known as squabs are blind for the first 10 - 14 days being fed with 'pigeon's milk', a liquid regurgitated from the crop. Leaving the nest at 20 - 29 days, the young perch nearby where they continue to be fed by the parents. They are usually about 35 days old before they are capable of independent flight. A display flight is performed during the breeding season where they fly upwards, clap their wings, and then glide downwards.

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