Common Wood-Pigeon (Columba palumbus)

Other Names (World)
Common Woodpigeon, Common Wood-Pigeon, Ring Pigeon, Ringdove, Cushat, Cushie-doo, Quest, Common Wood Pigeon

Family
Columbidae (Pigeons, Doves)

Size
40 - 42 cm

First Described (Guide)
Linnaeus, 1758

Range (Guide)

Afghanistan (B), Albania (B), Algeria, Andorra (B) (NB), Armenia (B), Austria (B), Azerbaijan (B) (NB), Belarus (B), Belgium (B) (NB), Bosnia and Herzegovina (B) (NB), Bulgaria (B) (NB) (P), China (mainland) (B), Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska) (B) (NB), Cyprus (B) (NB), Czech Republic (B) (NB), Denmark (B) (NB) (P), Estonia (B) (NB), Faroe Islands (B), Finland (B) (NB) (P), France (B) (NB) (P), Georgia (B), Germany (B) (NB) (P), Greece (B) (NB) (P), Hungary (B), Iceland (B), India, Iran [Islamic Republic of] (B), Iraq (B) (NB), Ireland (B) (NB), Israel, Italy (B) (NB) (P), Kazakhstan (B), Kyrgyzstan (B), Latvia (B) (NB) (P), Lebanon, Liechtenstein (B), Lithuania (B) (NB), Luxembourg (B) (NB), Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (B) (NB), Malta (B), Moldova [Republic of] (B) (NB), Mongolia (B), Montenegro (B), Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands Antilles (B) (NB), Norway (B), Oman (B), Pakistan (B), Poland (B) (NB), Portugal (B) (NB), Romania (B) (NB) (P), Russia (Central Asian) (B), Russia (European) (B) (NB) (P), Serbia (B), Slovakia (Slovak Republic) (B) (NB), Slovenia (B) (NB), Spain (B) (NB) (P), Sweden (B) (NB), Switzerland (B) (NB), Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan (B), Tunisia, Turkey (B) (NB), Ukraine (B) (NB) (P), United Kingdom (B) (NB), Uzbekistan (B), Western Sahara.

Vagrant to Egypt, Gibraltar, Jordan, Kuwait, Mauritania, Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands, United Arab Emirates.

Population
Estimated population is 30,000,000 - 70,000,000 (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Food
Mainly plant material including clover, cabbage, ash, ivy and roots. Cereal crops such as wheat and barley. Occasionally insects.

Voice
Many syllable, cooing, the emphasis being on the second syllable.

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (23)...)

Common Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) [XC858676]
by Paul Kelly from F44 - LA-CHAPELLE-SUR-ERDRE, center, France (song)

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.

References
See References.

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

Files:

JPG files for Common Wood-Pigeon (Columba palumbus) - 10 files

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