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Pigeon dove leads a hidden life in the forests of temperate latitudes of Our Country. A small bird is listed in the Red Book and is protected by the law of some states.
Wood pigeon is a wood pigeon, which is rarely seen in nature, due to the lifestyle that takes place in the crowns of trees. They differ in size and color from the city ones, which are known to everyone. The pigeon makes itself felt, occasionally appearing from thick branches, making characteristic sounds from a thicket of trees.
Description of the wood pigeon
The wild pigeon (pictured) or wood pigeon has the Latin name Columba palumbus. People take him for an ordinary pigeon from the urban environment, but the pigeon is distinguished by large physical data, color, and living in isolated areas. The dove lives in sparsely populated places, hiding in the foliage of trees, guarding its “hermitage”. Hunters, wild animals (foxes, ferrets, martens, badgers) and raptors (peregrine falcon, hawk, golden eagle) are the main enemies.
Pigeon dove is larger and more powerful than ordinary pigeons. The length is more than 40 cm, the weight varies from 500 g to 930 g. The color of the feathers is gray, with a hint of blue. The breast is gray-reddish. The goiter is painted in turquoise or lilac. On the neck of a greenish color with a tint, it has 2 white spots. When flying, white stripes – chevrons – are clearly visible on the wings.
By old age, white spots on the neck become brighter, the beak becomes intensely yellow. The color of the breast becomes more pink, the white stripes on the tail stand out noticeably. The beak is yellow or pinkish, the eyes are yellow, the legs are red.
The wingspan reaches 75 cm. When taking off, they make a characteristic flapping sound.
Distinctive gurgling calls can be heard in the early morning when near a forested area: “kru-kuuu-ku-kuku, kru-kuuu-ku-kuku.” These strong sounds are made by the dove. During breeding, the dove hides in the crowns of trees, does not betray its presence with sounds and whistles. The pigeon instantly falls silent when he notices the approach or presence of people, animals. Feeding takes place nearby, as the wood pigeon is afraid to leave the nest for a long time, leaving clutch or chicks. A cautious pigeon chooses short distances, flying from tree to tree, flying around the landing site from afar. Hard-to-reach, remote corners of the forest are ideal secluded places for a secretive dove.
Habitat and distribution
Wood pigeon pigeon in the photo is found in temperate latitudes north of the equator:
- North West Africa;
- Europe;
- Western Siberia;
- Iran, Iraq, Turkey;
- Himalayas.
The seasonal migration of the bird is partly influenced by the range of habitat. Pigeon pigeon from Africa does not fly anywhere, settling in one place. The northern wood pigeon migrates to the southern regions. The forests of the Scandinavian Peninsula, the forests of the mixed type of the Baltic States, Ukraine are the favorite breeding and living areas of the dove. The dove chose the northwestern part of Our Country as its habitat, flying for the winter to the southern regions of the Caucasus, Kuban, and Crimea.
The northern pigeon settles in coniferous forests. Closer to the south, it settles in mixed forests. Likes oak groves, with sufficient food. The dove can live in forest-steppe zones.
The area of distribution of the migratory bird vityutnya is from western Europe to the border with Asia, the coastal zones of the Atlantic coast of Africa from the northwestern side.
Pigeon pigeon finds food in the fields, feeding on seeds, occasionally choosing worms and insects. The wood pigeon is specially hunted by sports shooting enthusiasts, training the speed of reaction. The decline in the wood pigeon population is due to deforestation and hunting.
Varieties
The wood pigeon is divided into several varieties in various climatic and geographical zones of the earth:
Голуби | Short description |
Dove
| The color of the plumage is gray, the tail is dark. Settles in mountainous places, forests, in urban areas. It is rarely removed from its familiar place, it can migrate. A small bird with a wingspan of no more than 22 cm. It feeds on grains, food that is located near the nesting site. |
gray dove
| The first description was made in Indonesia, where the pigeon chose mangroves and ordinary forests to live. Feather on the body – silver-gray. The wing is decorated with a black edging. The back of the neck casts green, the eyes are red, there are also purple. |
Rock dove
| Looks like a sizar. But the light tail and black beak are distinguished from the sizar. It lives in the mountainous regions of Tibet, Korea, Altai. Nests on rocks, high places. |
Turtledove
| Migratory dove. He took a fancy to the forest-steppes of Ukraine, Moldova, southern European regions, Asian countries, Africa and Australia. Has many subspecies. Small parameters – 27 cm. The feather is gray, with a brownish tint. The neck is decorated with a black stripe. Pointed wings with white stripes. Wedge tail. Paws are red. |
Clintuch
| The dove lives in the regions of Siberia, China, Kazakhstan and Turkey. It nests in trees, choosing hollows. The plumage casts a bluish tint. The neck, breast are green, wings with a grayish-blue tint, matte, with a black stripe across. The tail section is underlined with black stripes. |
According to the habitat of wood pigeons, several types are distinguished:
- Asian pigeon;
- North African pigeon;
- Iranian dove;
- Azores.
Pigeon in the Azores of Portugal, protected by the Red Book. The pigeon that inhabited the islands of the Azores archipelago has survived and now lives on the islands of Sao Miguel and Pico. Here, the pigeon is also hunted, since the number of birds so far allows shooting. Other habitats of this subspecies of wood pigeon are under state protection and protection. The pigeon, from the island of Madeira, was exterminated at the beginning of the last century.
Behavior and lifestyle of wood pigeon
Pigeons live in flocks of several dozen birds. During migration, flocks of hundreds of heads stray.
They spend almost all the time in the fields for the extraction of food: grains of cereals, legumes and various cereal plants. A mobile, nimble large wood pigeon, wood pigeon, shows extreme caution during nesting and flights, and chooses distant, calm and quiet places. The pigeon communicates with other relatives using sounds called cooing, like all pigeons. When taking off, it makes a loud sound with its wings, the flight is energetic, noisy.
Since it picks up food from the ground, it has to walk – it moves in small steps, nodding its head, which helps to focus on the stern. Due to its large size, it takes off slowly and heavily. May become prey for small predators.
Feeding a wild pigeon
Vyahiri feed on what is near the nest. If it is a pine forest or an oak grove, then the food will mainly consist of cones, acorns and seeds of other plants. Gather food from branches or from the ground.
Places with rich food, fields with grain, become a favorite place of food, where flocks flock from all around. The pigeon uses leguminous plants, fruits, nuts, herbs, wild and cultivated cereals as food. Berries also serve as feeding: lingonberries, blueberries, blueberries.
A lot of food can fit into the dove’s goiter: up to 7 acorns or a handful of grain. Small bushes with berries and nuts can be plucked clean by a pigeon. Wheat is a favorite delicacy for wood pigeons. Arrange raids on the fields during the harvest, picking up fallen spikelets or flying into grain shocks. And after the harvest, the pigeon dove chooses wheat fields to collect many birds.
Reproduction and nesting method
During the period of incubation of masonry and nursing of chicks, the flocking dove, pigeon, retires with a dove in a nest made of thin rods. At the same time, food is obtained nearby. The male pigeon brings food, courting the dove. The female incubates the eggs.
The breeding season lasts from April to September. A pigeon flock, consisting of married couples and young individuals that have reached maturity during the winter to search for a mate, arrive at the place of the summer. In the morning, a wild pigeon with a characteristic coo begins to lure a female from the tops of trees, this can be seen and heard in the video:
Already by the end of April, or at the beginning of May, the young growth chooses a pair and begins to build a nest, twisting rods. At the same time, the African Pigeon Pigeon also begins to build nests, having decided on pairs.
The nests at the wood pigeons are built “openwork”, visible between the twigs from all sides, with a flat bottom. The dove twists thicker branches with small flexible branches. The bird house is attached between the branches at a low height, no more than 2 m. Sometimes young couples use the old nests of other birds, strengthening it with twigs and twigs. The rapid completion of the construction of the “house” is marked by the beginning of the mating games.
During mating games, the male dove flies in circles, cooing with the female, performing ritual games and flights. After playing, the female lays eggs. Hatching takes 15-18 days. At this time, the dove does not fly far. The young dove helps the dove in everything, being always nearby, in the foliage. The couple behaves very carefully so as not to betray their presence to predators – small animals and birds.
After the pigeon chicks have hatched, for 1 month, the parents feed them, taking food in turn. Cottage cheese secretions from the goiter of pigeons are fed to the chicks at first. Then comes the moment when the chicks move on to other food. Usually, nestlings have 1-2 chicks, which after 40 days learn to fly next to their parents. After mastering the skill, the chicks fly away from their native nest, starting an independent life in a flock.
Lifespan and population
The pigeon leads a secretive way of life, carefully guards its space when breeding offspring away from people, noisy cities.
Since the beginning of the use of fertilizers and chemicals in fields with grain and other crops, since the 50s of the last century, the number of pigeons has fallen several times. A pigeon that feeds on grains, cereals and legumes is poisoned with fertilizers. Having chosen a rich place for feeding, wood pigeons flock there in flocks and return again and again, receiving lethal doses of poisons.
The life expectancy of a dove is approximately 16 years. The number of birds is decreasing every year. In Our Country, pigeon pigeons are hunted for recreational purposes – hunting skills training. Meat is used for cooking. The dove from the persecution of a person changes its habitat, leaving for the remote corners of the forests. In European countries, wood pigeon wood dove can safely settle even in cities, arranging nests in noisy places, along roads, on the roofs of multi-storey buildings. Hunting, although allowed, is not very popular. The Wood Pigeon is more likely to come under fire on the field where it feeds. Getting prey from someone else’s site is a big problem. Without the knowledge of the owner, you can not walk across the field, it is prohibited by law. The habitat of the wood pigeon is decreasing – forests favored by birds are being cut down, roads are being built. The noise, the presence of risk and anxiety drives the vityutneys to other distant lands. Tourist wilderness areas have also gotten rid of the presence of pigeons. Despite the fact that nature lovers do not disturb, do not shoot, and do not catch pigeons.
Natural factors for reducing the number of pigeons are weather conditions and climate change. Late spring, rainy summer play a role in reducing the number of clutches that a pigeon has time to make during the summer months. Such natural conditions are not uncommon in the northern, northwestern habitats on the Eurasian continent.
The second factor is natural enemies in nature, preying on vityutya, on offspring. Peregrine falcon, goshawk attack young growth. Small birds, crows, jays and magpies destroy their nests, hunting for nestlings. Scientists ornithologists suggest that the wood dove loses 40% of the eggs precisely because of the birds. Squirrels, martens also like to feast on pigeon eggs.
Conclusion
Pigeon pigeon, handsome forest man chooses a mate for life. Their cooing in the morning and the flutter of their wings pleases with the imminent onset of warm spring days. If they settled next to people, then there is hope that the birds will not disappear forever.