Stock Dove (Stock Pigeon)
Columba oenas
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Distribution Britain 1,821 (-6.8%) Ireland 363 (-32.7%)
Numbers breeding: Britain 240,000 + Ireland 30,000 European status: 510,000 (53% in Britain and Ireland =1) British population trend: increasing (+124% CBC, +15% BBS){+140%} How likely are you to record it? 1226 squares (27.3%) Ranked 38 [47] |
There was great confusion, even to the end of the 19th century, between Stock Doves, Feral Pigeons and Rock Doves. A century ago the range of this species over England and parts of Wales is likely to have been very much the same as now. However there are none in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and there is some evidence that it spread rapidly northwards in the last 30 years of the 19th century. The birds are still sparsely distributed through parts of Ireland and here, also, they seem to have colonised and expanded as arable farming altered the living conditions in their favour. A steep decline in numbers, coinciding with the use of chemical seed-dressings in the 1950s, was reversed by the late 1960s and the birds are continuing to do well in arable areas although they have disappeared from many peripheral areas. Modern agriculture does not yet seem to be a problem for this species.
The following Bird On! sketch is available:
Stock Dove
From
The
State of the Nations Birds
Copyright © 2000 by Chris Mead