Common Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) [XC817902]
by Grzegorz Lorek from Billericay, Essex, England, United Kingdom (call)
Common Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) [XC878721]
by Anthony ROUX from Tacumshin Lake (East End), County Wexford, Ireland (call, dawn song)
Nest
Flimsy platform of twigs, usually high up in a tree.
Eggs (Guide)
2; slightly glossy, white; oval-ellipsoidal. Incubation: 17 - 18 days; by both sexes.
Subspecies
Related to Dark-tailed Laurel-pigeon (Columba bollii) and Madeira Laurel-pigeon (Columba trocaz) of Macaronesia (eastern Atlantic islands) and Afep Pigeon (Columba unicincta) of Africa. Probably also to White-tailed Laurel-pigeon (Columba junoniae) of Canary Is. Subspecies iranica intergrades with nominate in eastern Turkey and Transcaucasia.
The following 6 subspecies are recognised:
azorica Hartert, 1905 - Eastern and central Azores.
maderensis Tschusi, 1904 - Montane forests of Madeira (probably extinct).
excelsa (Bonaparte, 1856) - Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 - Europe east to western Siberia and Iraq. Winters south to northern Africa.
iranica (Zarudny, 1910) - Southern Transcaspia, northern and western Iran.
casiotis (Bonaparte, 1854) - Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to northern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, north-western India and Nepal.
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7