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Common Wood-Pigeon (Columba palumbus) — photo 1 of 4
© Don Loarie CC BY 4.0

Pigeons and doves

Common Wood-Pigeon

Columba palumbus

Year-round

Voice

Song

Benoît Van Hecke

1:43

Song

Sonothèque ADVL

0:12

How to recognize it

  • Larger than a feral pigeon, bulky and long-bodied

  • Grey overall with pinkish breast

  • White neck patches with green sheen on the sides of neck

  • Fast direct flight; white wing bar shows in flight, takeoff loud and clattering

About the species

Often heard before it is seen, the Common Wood-Pigeon gives a repeated coo that carries through parks and tree-lined streets. It takes off with a loud clatter of wings and flies with steady, fast beats.

Outside the breeding season it gathers in large flocks, but in spring it keeps to cover and quiets down. Males also use display flights, climbing before gliding down with wings that crack sharply. In towns it can grow quite tame, while in rural areas it stays wary.

It uses woods, older parks, gardens, and open fields, and it nests in trees. Its food is mostly plant matter — seeds, shoots, grain, buds, fruits, and acorns — though it also takes a few insects and worms. In colder parts of its range it moves south for winter, while in milder places it stays year-round.

Did you know?

  • Russian forest, European park

    In Russia the wood pigeon is almost entirely a forest bird and only in the last few years has begun to settle in villages by the forest, whereas in Europe, Ukraine and Belarus it calmly nests in city parks and gardens.

Where to find

  • In mature city parks with big old trees, Common Wood-Pigeon is easiest to notice by the loud wing-clap at takeoff and the deep, repeated cooing from the canopy.

  • Along canal banks, pond edges, and river paths lined with trees, it often perches high on branches and flushes with a noisy burst.

  • On lawns and grassy edges of larger squares, it feeds on the ground in short steps, searching for seeds and berries.

  • In autumn under oaks and chestnuts, look for it dropping to the grass to pick up acorns.

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Sources