Stock Dove | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Columbiformes |
Family: | Columbidae |
Genus: | Columba |
Species: | Columba oenas |
The Stock Dove (Columba oenas) is a bird in the family Columbidae. It is very similar to the Rock Dove.
Subspecies[]
The Stock Dove has two recognized species. They are:
- C. o. oenas (Linnaeus, 1758) – western Europe and Northwest Africa to northern Kazakhstan, southwestern Siberia and northern Iran.
- C. o. yarkandensis (Buturlin, 1908) – southeastern Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to western China.
Description[]
Similar in plumage and size to Rock Doves and feral pigeons, Stock Doves are about 34 cm long, weigh 250-340 g, and have a 63-69 cm wingspan. They are largely blue-grey with an attractive iridescent bottle green band on the back of the neck. In flight, they show black edges to the wing and two partial black bands near their back. Unlike Rock Doves, they do not have pale rumps. They have orange bills like Wood Pigeons, but are smaller, have completely black eyes, and lack the white patches on the neck and wings.
Voice[]
Its usual call is a repeated "huu".
Behavior[]
Feeding[]
The Stock Dove feeds mainly on plant matter and seeds, especially young shoots and seedlings, but may sometimes eat insects and other invertebrates as well. In winter, it gathers in small flocks to feed on farmland stubbles. It obtains food from the ground as most pigeons and doves do.
Breeding and Nesting[]
The Stock Dove has quite a long breeding season, commencing in late February or early March and later proceeding into summer. It usually builds its nest in cavities in trees but also sometimes in crevices or cavities in walls. It will also use nest boxes. There also have been observations of this bird nesting in rabbit burrows, ruins, old poplar hedges, cracks in crags or cliff faces, in ivy, and in the thick growth around the boles of lime trees. The cavities used by the bird should be 75 cm deep and the hole should be big enough to admit a fist. The nest consists of a simple bed of sticks from deciduous trees along with grass. The female usually lays two all-white glossy eggs, incubating them for 16-18 days. The Stock Dove is much less sensitive to disturbances during the breeding season than the Wood Pigeon. When the chicks are hatched, they are initially fed with crop milk. They then stay in the nest where they are fed by both parents until they are able to fly after 25-30 days. During this period, both the parents and the chicks are very quiet and difficult to detect. The Stock Dove raises two to three broods each year.
Distribution and Habitat[]
With its distribution situated in the Palearctic, specifically the temperate latitudes of Europe and Western Siberia as well as in northeastern Africa, western and central Asia, the Stock Dove is a breeding bird of deciduous and mixed light forests with old, hollow trees, and less commonly, dense high-trunk floodplain forests. It often settles on the border of forest areas and open spaces: on small wooded islets, significant clearings, along highways, the outskirts of fields and meadows, in the steppe zone, forest belts and groves. Sometimes, it nests in old parks within a city, if there are suitable conditions for this (trees with large hollows). The Stock Dove does not normally live above 500 m above sea level, but in some regions, it occurs in mountainous terrain up to 100 m and higher; for example, in the Atlas Mountains, it lives in mixed oak, pine and cedar forests between the altitudes of 1,000 and 2,300 m.
In western and southern Europe, western Asia and Africa, the Stock Dove boasts a predominantly sedentary lifestyle. In the rest of its range, it is a migratory or partially migratory bird, while the percentage of migratory birds increases from south to north. In Northern and Eastern Europe, as well as in Siberia and Central Asia, it is a typical migratory species. The dove winters in the central and southern regions of Europe (especially numerous in the Iberian Peninsula and southern France), southern Black and Caspian Seas. It returns to nesting sites early, in March and April, and many birds appear in the steppe strip in February. It normally departs in August-September, though some birds leave nesting sites in October. During migration, it flies in flocks or small groups without forming a certain distinct formation.