Columba Oenas Research Articles

The Responses of Woodpigeons (Columba Palumbus) To Pigeon Decoys in Various Postures: a Quest for a Super-Normal Alarm Stimulus

1. It has been suggested (MURTON, 1974) that the white wing marks of the woodpigeon (Columba palumbus) could form a visual alarm signal; the species has no auditory alarm call. Experiments were conducted to investigate this possibility with the long term goal of developing an efficient scarer for this species. 2. Preference experiments were conducted over four summers. Pigeons coming to a preferred feeding site were given the opportunity of settling within one of two areas containing woodpigeon decoys (i.e. corpses) of various types. 3. Woodpigeons preferred to settle with closed-winged decoys than with open-winged decoys. This was because close-winged decoys were attractive but also because open-winged decoys were repellent. The attractive properties of closed-winged decoys were not species specific; closed-winged stock doves (Columba oenas) decoys were just as attractive. The repellent properties of the open-winged decoys resulted not from the novel posture or from the body of the decoy but solely from the outstretched pair of wings. More specifically the white wing marks were necessary for this effect; open-winged decoys with no wing marks were not repellent. 4. Decoys with modified wing marks were tested to try to obtain super-normal repellency. Doubling the area of the wing marks produced such an effect. 5. Although the exposure of the wing marks is a necessary and sufficient condition for a repellent effect, the open-winged posture is rarely seen in a living woodpigeon. The marks are usually visible as an oscillating pattern. The likely importance of the rate of oscillation of this pattern is discussed.

Interspecific differences in photosensitivity between three closely related species of pigeons

It is known from field observations that vernal gonad recrudescence begins in January for the Stock dove, a month later at the end of February for the Wood pigeon, while many town pigeons (Columba livia) have active gonads throughout the year.Photostimulation experiments demonstrate that spermatogenesis can be stimulated in the Stock dove by exposure to an artificial daylength regimeincreasing from 9.1 to 10.8 hours over 28 days. This photoperiod is the approximate equivalent of natural daylength changes occurring from late January onwards at 52° N. The same phototreatment, however, was not stimulatory for the testes of Wood pigeons, which required the equivalent of a March photoperiod. Natural daylength changes occurring in late November and December failed to evoke gametogenetic recovery in Stock dove controls.The gonads of feral pigeons in full breeding condition were unaffected when the subjects were transferred from full summer photoperiods to those found in midwinter and spermatogenesis was maintained in birds kept under winter daylengths for four months.The discussion mentions the problem of intraspecific geographical variation in photosensitivity. Scottish Wood pigeons begin their gonad recovery earlier and by March have considerably larger testes than birds in the south of England. Furthermore, they achieve this more advanced condition before the vernal equinox when daylengths are shorter in Scotland than in the south of England.

Natural selection and the breeding seasons of the Stock Dove and Wood Pigeon

(1966). Natural selection and the breeding seasons of the Stock Dove and Wood Pigeon. Bird Study: Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 311-327.

The Stomach WormTetrameres fissispina(Diesing, 1861) (Nematoda: Spiruridea) Infecting the Wood-Pigeon,Columba palumbusL., and Stock Dove,C. oenasL., in Cambridgeshire

Tetrameres fissispina(Diesing, 1861) is recorded for the first time from the Wood-Pigeon,Columba palumbusL., and Stock Dove,C. oenasL.An account is given of a natural infection of Wood-Pigeons withT. fissispinaduring the winter months of 1962/63 and 1963/64 in Cambridgeshire.

THE FEEDING HABITS OF THE WOODPIGEON COLUMBA PALUMBUS, STOCK DOVE C. OENAS AND TURTLE DOVE STREPTOPELIA TURTUR

SummaryThe feeding‐sites of Woodpigeon, Stock Dove and Turtle Dove were examined in a study area in Cambridgeshire by making repeated standardized observations over five years. The crop contents of 614 Woodpigeons and 166 Stock Doves shot throughout the period were analysed to determine the birds' diet. Seasonal variations are detailed. The crop contents of 41 Turtle Doves, and the nestlings of 14 Stock Doves and 5 Turtle Doves were also analysed.During the winter, Woodpigeons fed primarily on clover leaves which they collected from leys and pastures, but also on weed leaves and, during periods of snow, those of various cultivated brassicae. Grain was taken from the spring cereal sowings, after which the birds reverted to clover feeding, supplementing this diet with tree leaf and flower buds. When cereals ripened these comprised the main food being collected from July to November, at first from standing crops and then from stubbles. Wheat was preferred to barley. In the autumn, beech nuts, acorns and other tree fruits were taken and when stocks of these and the cereals were exhausted the birds turned again to clover feeding. Weed seeds, especially pasture species, were collected especially in May and June but only in small amounts.Stock Doves fed primarily on weed seeds throughout the year, obtaining these from fallow ground, ploughed fields and cereal stubbles. Cereal seed was taken when available, but featured less in its diet than that of the Woodpigeon. The most important weed seeds were Sinapsis and Brassica species, Stellaria media capsules and Polygonum and Chenapodium species. Leaves or tree buds and fruits were not an important food item.Turtle Doves fed primarily on the seeds of Fumaria and grass species, but they also collected cereal grains and Stellaria media capsules. They collected their food from waste ground or from tall, standing hay or corn crops, where many weeds were growing. They did not appear to feed from trees or hedgerows.The food of nestling Stock and Turtle Doves was similar to that collected by the adults for themselves.The feeding habits of the other British columbids is briefly reviewed. It appears that the Turtle Dove, Stock Dove and Woodpigeon, and also the feral pigeon and Collared Dove occupy different ecological niches, the first three associated with arable farmland. The Woodpigeon, Stock Dove and Turtle Dove have all increased in numbers and range following the development of agriculture. It is likely that the Rock Dove competes for food with the Stock Dove and possibly at times with the Woodpigeon, which probably explains the declining status of the Rock Dove in Britain.The distribution of the Turtle Dove in Britain is similar to the distribution of Fumitory, its major food plant.

Diet of Wood Pigeons

THE recently issued sixth bulletin on wood pigeon studies being organized from the British Trust for Ornithology at Oxford contains some interesting observations of agricultural importance. The examination of nearly 4,000 wood pigeon crops suggests that, contrary to the general belief of farmers, wood pigeons do not eat the 'heart' or buds of clover plants ; they eat the leaves and not the buds. Nor do they normally eat young corn but only the seed. During the mild winter of January and February 1943, wild fruits like ivy berries, haws and acorns were found in the 393 crops examined, whereas during the more normal winter of January and February 1942 (131 crops examined) the main food was shown to be cultivated clover. With the co-operation of phenologists a record is being made of the local variations in the abundance of acorn crops, because this seems to be the controlling factor for the movements of the wood pigeon flocks in Great Britain in winter. This might influence forestry work. The food habits of the smaller stock dove are shown to differ. This bird does not take the same food as the wood pigeon: it appears to be more of a ground-feeding species, living almost entirely upon cereals, weed seeds and roots. When the extra acres of woodland are scientifically managed after the War, they may attract the wood pigeon to feed there in the autumn instead of in the farm fields.

XLIX.—Remarks on the Columbinæ, with a description of a new Indian Pigeon, akin to the ‘Stock dove’ of Europe

XLIX.—<i>Remarks on the</i> Columbinæ, <i>with a description of a new Indian Pigeon, akin to the ‘Stock dove’ of Europe</i>