Columbiformes
Columbidés
Columba
oenas
13 years
The Stock Dove is the smallest of the three European pigeons. It is also the least conspicuous, the least apparent. The sexes are also similar in this bird. It is recognized, in addition to its size, by the uniformity of its plumage. Indeed, its upper parts are light blue-gray only marked by a small black wing bar on the large coverts and a little black on the tertiary remiges, which can not be seen in flight. In flight, from above, one sees a small two-tone gray and black pigeon, light gray on the body, the wing coverts, the base of the primaries and the base of the tail, black on the tip of the primaries, the outer secondaries and the tip of the tail. The resulting contrast is typical. Note the absence of white that characterizes the other two species. The chest and front of the neck are a vinous gray forming a plastron. In flight, from below, one has the same contrast as above, but attenuated. The head is gray. The iris is dark brown and the eye surrounded by a gray circle barely visible. The beak, pink with yellow tip, has a white wax at the base. The sides of the neck show a wide iridescent green reflecting area. The legs are a deep pink.
The juvenile is more dull, more uniform. It has no colored reflections on the neck or plastron on the chest. Beak and legs are paler.
The males sing a loud but muffled single note that is repeated, sounding like "wou oup wou oup wou oup.... It can sound like a single note when the second part is swallowed. Like the wood pigeon, the frequency of the notes makes it possible for the song to penetrate the thick forest foliage. During the prenuptial parade, they emit a rapid series of 8-10 weak cuckoo notes, coucou cou cou:
The Stock Dove is a bird of the woods originally. It still remains so mostly. As it is cavernicolous for nesting purposes, the habitat must provide the cavities it needs.
The Stock Dove exhibits the same characteristics of habitat diversity as the more Common Wood Pigeon.
Fast and direct flight of Columbids. Flight alone or together during the breeding season between the nest and foraging areas. Group flight during the inter-season, particularly in migration movements.
The Stock Dove feeds on the ground in open, natural or agricultural environments. It is mostly vegetarian but can also swallow some invertebrates.
The breeding season starts in April in the south of its range, and later in May-June in more northern latitudes.
The Stock Dove has a mainly European range at boreal, temperate and Mediterranean latitudes. Its range spills over into Morocco to the west, Anatolia and northern Iran to the east, where it becomes a mountain species. The European range also stretches eastwards to the centre of the Eur-Asian continent in southern Russia and northern Kazakhstan. Lastly, an isolated mountain breed of a distinct subspecies, the ssp. yarkandensis, occupies an area ranging from eastern Uzbekistan to western China.
Birds from boreal regions and those inside continental range subject to continental climate are migratory. They move southwards towards the range and join sedentary southern birds with which they winter.
The Stock Dove is classed as Least Concern by BirdLife International. Therefore, the species is not threatened. Its numbers are still numerous and the European populations are generally increasing. However, it is also known that the Stock Dove was much more common in the past than nowadays and experienced a dramatic decline in its population. It is likely that the initial level will never be recovered due to environmental changes.