Common wood pigeon: the bird profiles

What do wood pigeon eggs look like? Where do wood pigeons build their nests? And how do you identify young wood pigeons? Learn this and more in the following article.

The common wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) is a distinct species from the common street pigeon. Woodpigeons are widespread and common breeding birds throughout Europe. Easily recognisable by the white patches on their necks and wings, these pigeons can be seen in forests as well as in settlements and large cities. The males provide quite the spectacle during breeding season, when they rise from the treetops with fast, clapping wing beats and then present themselves to the female in gliding flight. How do you recognise the song of the wood pigeon? What do juvenile wood pigeons look like? Learn this and much more in our species fact sheet.

Common wood pigeon: key facts

How to identify the common wood pigeon

Common wood pigeons are easy to identify. The birds’ head, back, and wing plumage is a uniform blue grey. Their breast is a delicate pink, and their belly is a light beige brown. When perched, the bird’s most distinctive mark is a large white neck patch, which can be spotted even from a distance.

In flight, you can also see broad white stripes on the wings of the woodpigeons, which are another distinctive feature. Unfortunately, male and female wood pigeons cannot be distinguished visually.

What does the common wood pigeon sound like?

The song of the wood pigeon is one of the most memorable bird calls. With a muffled, rhythmic cooing, they sing a five-syllable verse that can be heard from afar: “Dhu-dhu-dhu … dhu-dhu”.

Note: You can only really confuse the song of the wood pigeon with that of the Eurasian collared dove. This equally common native pigeon species has a similar cooing song, but it consists of only three syllables instead of five.

How do you identify a juvenile wood pigeon?

Once young wood pigeons have flown the nest and are fully feathered, they look very similar to their parents. The grey blue colouring and the characteristic white wing patches clearly identify them as woodpigeons. What is still missing, however, is the white neck patch, which develops a few weeks later.

What do common wood pigeon eggs look like?

Wood pigeons lay about 4cm large, plain white eggs. The clutches almost always consist of two eggs laid in a nest of loose twigs. In rare cases, they lay just a single egg.

What kind of habitat does the common wood pigeon prefer?

Wood pigeons are extremely widespread and basically settle wherever there are trees. Potential habitats include dense forests as well as parks and gardens and individual groups of trees in the countryside, cemeteries, or streets.

Where does the common wood pigeon build its nest?

The wood pigeon builds its nest in trees, hedges and other vegetation. In towns and cities, building ledges are also used as nesting sites. Both breeding partners share the task of building the nest, with the male mainly bringing nesting material and the female weaving the fine twigs into a nest. However, the nests are not built very carefully – they are often so thin that the eggs can be seen from below.

When is the breeding season of the common wood pigeon?

Wood pigeons have an unusually long breeding season. This stretches from February to November and can include up to four broods. The individual clutches are incubated for about 16 days before the young birds hatch. The young are then fed in the nest for about four weeks until they are fully developed. After that, they are pretty much on their own, because their parents are soon busy devoting themselves to the next brood.

Where does the common wood pigeon spend the winter?

Our native wood pigeons spend the winter in their breeding grounds so you can spot them here all year round. During this time, they often form larger groups and flock together through the winter landscape. However, their fellow wood pigeons in Scandinavia escape their homeland during the cold season and migrate to the south, often passing through Britain on the way.

Help the wood pigeon!

The wood pigeon is also no stranger to gardens, settling in trees and even coming to feeders in winter. Find out here how you can make your garden welcoming for these feathered visitors.

What do common wood pigeons eat?

Wood pigeons feed almost exclusively on vegetarian food and forage on the ground and in trees or shrubs. They eat leaf and flower buds, berries, acorns, beechnuts, and grain seeds. Occasionally, however, they also eat animal food – in the form of insects, snails, or worms. Wood pigeons also feed their young with a protein and fat-rich milk, which the parents produce themselves.

Are nesting boxes suitable for woodpigeons?

Wood pigeons make open nests, so they are not attracted to classic nest boxes. Good nesting sites in gardens, on the other hand, are high trees or hedges that have not been thinned out too much to provide cover. And if you do have a pile of twigs and branches left over from the last hedge trimming, feel free to leave it in the garden – this way you provide both nesting material for wood pigeons and a habitat for plenty of other garden wildlife.

What else can you do to support the wood pigeon?

Common wood pigeons need a lot of drinking water to produce the milk for feeding their young. So, a water source in your garden, such as a pond, stream, or even a simple bird bath, is a great help to the birds. However, always make sure to clean these regularly to avoid the spread of diseases.

By the way: The common wood pigeon is not under special protection and can even be culled in the UK in cases where they are deemed to be a danger to crops or livestock. British nature conservation groups, such as Wild Justice, have been campaigning for years for the wood pigeon to be released from the “general licence”, which allows these birds to be hunted, and instead be included in nature conservation laws.

The song of the wood pigeon is easily recognisable, so it is perfect for an introduction to learning bird songs. Other species with distinctive songs, which you can also learn about in our in-depth articles, include the common chiffchaff, the blackbird, and the great tit.