Species of the day: Wood Pigeon

admin
, 30 March 2020
Species of the day: Wood Pigeon
© James Duncan

By James Duncan

Learning and Engagement Officer

The Common Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus) is on a rapid ascent to becoming the UK's most numerous garden bird. It's probable that of all our gardens, only the Blackbird and Blue Tit are spotted in a higher percentage. It's also our most common pigeon and the most numerous large, wild bird in Britain. Some individuals can weigh over 500g - to put that into perspective, it's around the same weight as five adult Blackbirds. Though conspicuous it's also rather attractive, displaying a blue/grey head, a 'wine-like' breast and irridescent green and violet on the neck. The neck is perhaps the most distinctive feature as it's also marked with glistening white (in the adults). In flight, the bold white wing bars are highly distinctive.

Perhaps surprisingly its sheer abundance and widespread distribution was not always the case. The expansion of arable agriculture has undoubtedly served as the main reason, the boom in oil seed rape improving their survival prospects over winter. No doubt the volume of seed and fruit now available in gardens across the country may play an additional part. Woodpigeons have even been recorded nesting in every month of the year! It's also quite staggering just how much food a single Woodpigeon can consume - the enormous crop and stomach can, for example, hold more than 1000 grains of corn and 200 beans. Woodpigeons are also one of the few birds to uniquely feed their young (squabs) on crop-milk, a substance similar to that produced by mammals and extremely high in fats. 

This portly bird may give the appearance of being somewhat ungainly, but is in fact surprisingly agile and can often be seen hanging upside down whilst feeding. The frantic clatter of wings as it bursts from foliage in sheer panic is perhaps one of its most recognisable traits. The song is also highly distinctive, a five note ditty, following the theme "coo-COOO-coo-coo-coo.  Old English mnemonics used for this include "My toe bleeds, Betty' and 'Take two cows, Taffy.'  Spring is also the time to see the characteristic display flights of the males as they soar steeply upwards, enact a wing clap or two and continue with a slow gliding descent with the tail spread. 

Woodpigeon1

Woodpigeon © James Duncan

Leave a comment
Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1787981889.50070 [907] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1787981889.54230.0416Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1787981889.54250.0002Server address: 216.73.216.170
1787981889.54260.0001Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1787981889.54260Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/species-of-the-day-wood-pigeon
    [s] => species-of-the-day-wood-pigeon
    [1] => species-of-the-day-wood-pigeon
)
1787981889.54280.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1787981889.54410.0012 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1787981889.54620.0022 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1787981889.5470.0007INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1787981889.59330.0463 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=24578709
1787981889.59430.001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=24578709
1787981889.5950.0007 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-08-29 05:38:00' AND saleTo>'2026-08-29 05:38:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1787981889.59610.0012 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='species-of-the-day-wood-pigeon')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-08-29 05:38:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1787981889.59890.0027 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1787981889.59940.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=2028 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-08-29 05:38:00'
1787981889.60010.0007 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1787981889.60080.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1787981889.60140.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=191 LIMIT 1
1787981889.60210.0007Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1787981889.60240.0003 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1787981889.60340.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-08-29 05:38:00' AND postSlug='species-of-the-day-wood-pigeon'
1787981889.63110.0277Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1787981889.63160.0005 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1787981889.63360.0019Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1787981889.63380.0003 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1787981889.63490.001 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1787981889.63610.0013 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1787981889.64040.0043 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1787981889.64110.0007 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1787981889.64390.0028Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1787981889.64390 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1787981889.64470.0007 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1787981889.64510.0004 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1787981889.64790.0028 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1787981889.64890.001 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1787981889.64970.0007 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1787981889.65210.0024 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1787981889.65310.001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1787981889.65610.003 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1787981889.65660.0005Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1787981889.65690.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1787981889.65780.0009Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1787981889.65820.0004 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='species-of-the-day-wood-pigeon')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-08-29 05:38:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1787981889.66110.0029 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1787981889.66170.0005 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1787981889.66430.0026Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1787981889.66520.0009 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=2028 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1787981889.73450.0693 [0] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1787981889.73480.0003Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1787981889.7350.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1787981889.73590.0009 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1787981889.73670.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1787981889.73740.0007 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1787981889.74050.0031 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1787981889.74120.0007 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1787981889.74410.0028 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1787981889.74480.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1787981889.74550.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1787981889.74590.0005 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1787981889.74930.0033 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1787981889.750.0007 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1787981889.75270.0027 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1787981889.75590.0033 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1787981889.75690.001 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1787981889.75750.0006 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1787981889.76350.006 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1787981889.76440.0009 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1787981889.76750.0031 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1787981889.77020.0027 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1787981889.77130.0011 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1787981889.7720.0007 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1787981889.77530.0032 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1787981889.77610.0008 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1787981889.78020.0041 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1787981889.78130.0011Request time: 0.2827
1787981889.78130Process time: 0.2825
1787981889.78140Memory: 1.6226