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Wood pigeon

 

 

At the birdwatch last weekend large numbers of wood pigeons on migration were observed, about thirty thousand individuals; they nest up to the polar regions. In Estonia more than fifty thousand wood pigeon pairs nest, and there are roughly as many domestic pigeons.

 

Compared to domestic pigeons wood pigeons are larger, nicely dove gray, with a longer neck and tail. Breast plumage brightly pink, a white neck collar, green higher up – colourful, isn’t it? Juveniles show both pink and green on the neck but the white collar is still lacking, so they are easy to tell apart. In flight the white leading edge of the wings shows. The bluish-grey and quite long tail ends with a broad black border.

 

The migration ends with October; they winter in western and southern Europe, but some individuals try to make it even in our climate. Outside the nesting period wood pigeons are sociable and form quite large flocks. They rise into flight with noisy flappings and when it happens unexpectedly, it is even a little startling; in flight they are fast and powerful.