Common Wood-Pigeon: how to recognise it
A bird of Europe, Africa and Asia. Learn the marks that make it easy to identify, then practise with real photographs in Lore.
Practise with real photosAll species guides
Photo © hedera.baltica · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist · all photo credits
- Scientific name
- Columba palumbus
- Family
- Pigeons and Doves
- Size
- About 41 cm
- Habitat
- Farmland, woods, parks and gardens
- Found in
- Europe, Africa and Asia
The key marks
Big pigeon with a white patch on the side of the neck and a broad white band across the wing in flight. Stock Dove is smaller and darker, with no white, black wing tips and a broad dark trailing edge.
Voice
A soft, hooting 'roe-koe-koe, koe-koe' in a rhythm of five.
Good to know
Wood pigeons feed their young with 'crop milk', a nutritious substance made in their throat.
Do not confuse with
Compare it with the Stock Dove. Look at the marks above one by one rather than the overall colour, and practise telling the two apart with real photos.
Where and when
You can expect to find it in farmland, woods, parks and gardens. It is especially common in the United Kingdom, Poland, Spain and Sweden. Distribution changes with the seasons and from year to year, so check a recent local observation source before you go looking.