Common Wood Pigeon Identification
What I look like
The Common Wood Pigeon, also known as a wood pigeon, is larger and heavier than the Rock Dove. It's even the largest pigeon in Western Europe.
It has a gray head, a white patch on the neck with a bit of shimmering green.
Its eyes are light yellow.
The upper body is dark blue-gray.
The underside is pink-gray and lightens towards the belly.
In flight, its white shoulder patches and a black terminal band on the tail are noticeable.
The juvenile is much more dull: its plumage is light gray-brown, without a white patch or shiny green on the nape, and the eyes and beak are more gray.
My songs, my calls
The song of the Common Wood Pigeon is a deep and quite rhythmic cooing "coo-coo" "coo-coo-coo"
How I behave
The Common Wood Pigeon is very sociable. It lives in groups at feeding and roosting sites, except during the breeding season.
It forages on the ground but also in trees and shrubs.
They can then show great agility.
When feeding in groups on the ground, there is a hierarchy: the dominants in the center feed a lot and quickly compared to the subordinates at the periphery.
It sometimes flaps its wings to scare away predators.
How I reproduce
The breeding season of the Common Wood Pigeon extends from April to October.
It has 2 to 3 broods per year with 2 white eggs.
It nests in trees, high up at the fork of several branches—hence its name Wood Pigeon!
Its nest is a platform of twigs and branches.
Like other columbids, the juveniles are fed for the first few days with crop milk (a milk-like substance produced in the parents' crops).
A study on ringed individuals showed that some juveniles returned to nest at their birthplace.
During its courtship flight, it rises quickly by flapping its wings, then descends gracefully gliding, tail and wings spread wide.
What I eat
The Common Wood Pigeon mainly feeds on plant material: leaves, flowers, buds, berries, seeds...
In winter, the wood pigeon may spend almost all day foraging for food.
In summer and autumn, it easily and more quickly finds food in cereal fields.
Where to find me
The Common Wood Pigeon needs both a wooded environment for breeding, and an open environment for feeding on the ground.
Thus, it adapts to various environments: found in forests, in urban parks and gardens, or in clearings and agricultural areas.
It is a sedentary or medium-distance migratory species.
The populations from northern and eastern Europe are migratory.
The migratory populations crossing the Pyrenees to winter are most affected by hunting during their autumn migration.