Photo ©2022 Frank Vassen
Click for a larger image
Photo ©2022 Frank Vassen
Click for a larger image
Stock Dove - Columba oenas
Family - Columbidae
Also known as - Stock Pigeon
Stock Doves are a medium-sized wild pigeon native to the UK and and continental Europe. With a length of 28–34cm (11-13.5in), they are a uniform blue-grey with a delicate pinkish-purple chest and an iridescent green patch on the side of the neck they are both sociable and gregarious and can often be found with the larger Wood Pigeons. With a wingspan of 60–66cm (23-26), the wings are marked with two short, dark black bars on the closed wing and black edges when in flight, they lack the white neck patches and wing bands of the larger native Wood Pigeons.
They can be found in mature woodlands, parkland, open country, coastal areas, and agricultural farmland, feeding primarily on grains, leaves, shoots, fruit, and occasional small invertebrates. They nest typically in old tree cavities, ivy-clad ruins, farm buildings, or even rabbit burrows. They are an amber conservation list species in the UK due to long-term population and distribution shifts. Stock Doves are classified in Schedule 2 of the Birds Directive and Annex III of the Berne Convention.
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