Wood Pigeon

Columba palumbus (Linnaeus, 1758)

2017-07-18 Orto-say, Chuy valley	© Ivan Turkovskiy

Biology

Numerous breeding migrant. Inhabits the elm, poplar, oak flood-plain forests, the steppe birch-asp forests, the spots of mixed forests, groves, the old elm shelterbelts, the apple-tree groves and coniferous mountain forests at altitudes 1000-2500 m. Appears in mid-March – April by flocks of one-two dozen birds. Migration finishes in early May. Breeds by separate pairs at distance 50-100 m one from another. Nest is built from thin twigs on deciduous (elm, poplar, apple) or coniferous (spruce, juniper) trees at height 1.2-20 m above the ground. Clutch of 2 eggs is laid in end of April – early July; the latest clutches were found in end of August. Both parents (mostly female) incubate clutch for 17-18 days and feed juveniles which fledge at age about 20 days old. Rears two broods per season, re-nesting after loss of first clutch is common. In late summer broods join in large flocks of to several hundred birds and often feed on stubble fields. Autumn migration begins in September, latest birds observed in mid-October.

References

Gavrilov E. I., Gavrilov A. E. "The Birds of Kazakhstan". Almaty, 2005. Э.И.Гаврилов. "Фауна и распространение птиц Казахстана". Алматы, 1999. В.К.Рябицев. "Птицы Урала, Приуралья и Западной Сибири". Екатеринбург. Изд-во Уральского университета, 2000.