Common Wood-Pigeon Life History

Habitat

Common Wood-Pigeons are birds of woodland edges, parks, gardens, and other urban settings. Rural birds nest in small woodlands and forage in nearby agricultural fields. Urban breeders forage on lawns in parks and gardens. In Central Europe, Common Wood-Pigeons historically bred along the borders of pine-oak forests, but they started colonizing urban areas in this region by the early 1800s. They continue to move into new urban areas in southern and eastern Europe in the 21st century.

Food

Common Wood-Pigeons are mostly vegetarian and eat virtually all plant parts—leaves, buds, flowers, seeds, berries, and roots. They forage mainly on the ground—in fields and even on lawns—by walking and pecking at food items. Common Wood-Pigeons eat more than 100 crop species, including wheat, barley, oats, and corn; large feeding flocks can cause considerable agricultural damage. These pigeons also forage in trees, plucking the fruits and seeds of oaks, beeches, and other native trees. In addition to plants, Common Wood-Pigeons sometimes eat earthworms, insects, spiders, slugs, and snails.

Nesting

Nest Placement

Usually placed in a tree on a branch or fork about 2 meters (7 feet) above the ground.

Nest Description

A simple stick nest, lined with smaller twigs, grasses, and leaves. Some nests are reused, with birds adding new materials during each successive breeding effort.

Nesting Facts

Behavior

Common Wood-Pigeons have an extended nesting season, with birds in the United Kingdom alone breeding from February to September. Individuals perform display flights in which they climb rapidly to heights of 20–30 meters (66–98 feet), produce several loud wing claps, and then glide downward on stiff wings. Pairs are monogamous within a breeding season, and it’s possible that some nonmigratory urban birds mate for life. Both sexes build the nest, or the female constructs the nest from sticks that the male delivers to her. Both parents incubate the eggs and feed the young, with the male providing most of the care for juveniles after they fledge.

In natural habitats, Common Wood-Pigeon pairs nest hundreds of meters apart, but in urban settings, nesting pairs can be only a meter (3 feet) apart, and they sometimes share the same tree. When many breeders are packed into a small area, pairs can be highly aggressive, chasing and even coming to blows with their neighbors.

Conservation

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists Common Wood-Pigeon’s conservation status as Least Concern, due to an extremely large population (estimated at 51–73 million mature individuals), an extremely large range, and a population trend that appears to be increasing.

Credits

Baptista, L. F., P. W. Trail, H. M. Horblit, P. F. D. Boesman, and E. F. J. Garcia (2020). Common Wood-Pigeon (Columba palumbus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.cowpig1.01

Bogliana, G., F. Sergio, and G. Tavecchia (1999). Woodpigeons nesting in association with hobby falcons: advantages and choice rules. Animal Behaviour 57: 125–131.

Cramp, S. (1985). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Volume 4. Terns to Woodpeckers. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.

International Union for Conservation of Nature (2022). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2022-2. https://www.iucnredlist.org.

Jonsson, L. (1992). Birds of Europe with North Africa and the Middle East. Christopher Helm, London.

Svensson, L., K. Mullarney, and D. Zetterström (2009). Collins Bird Guide. Second edition. HarperCollins, London, UK.

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