Common Wood Pigeon

Columba palumbus

The common wood pigeon, also known simply as the wood pigeon, is a large pigeon native to the western Palearctic. It belongs to the genus Columba, which includes closely related species such as the rock dove. It has a flexible diet, feeding mainly on plant material, including cereals, and is therefore considered an agricultural pest. Wood pigeons are extensively hunted over much of their range, but this does not appear to have a major impact on their population numbers. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 1,600,428 times across 50 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

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Movement and weather

Each season it is first heard regularly where daytime highs are around 10°C (typically 7 to 14°C, from 28 areas).

Over the weeks it was present in the past year, its centre in Europe ranged from 40°N in October to 53°N in December, about 1,500 km apart.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

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Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.