Woodpigeon

[nightshade]

Going back 10-15 years you would see woodpigeon only in fields adjacent to woodland.Their colouration is ideally suited to this type of habitat,in fact so good they had to evolve the white flashes on neck and wings so that other pigeons could find them(at distances up to a mile)
Nowdays the woodpigeon seems to have become an urban bird as I type this
I have bullfinches ,gold finches ,green finches,a blackcap,blackbirds,sparrows,
wren,dunnock and even what looks like a nuthatch but there are 4 woodpigeon which are fairly regular (along with 4 collar doves)
Any ideas why the change in lifestyle?the fields are still there the woodland ,farming is cereal,dairy,and mixed

[Helen]

The wood pigeon is alive and well in the woods! I see zillions of them here in the woods.

[wildone]

Could it be population explosion? Many years ago I remember farmers on a Saturday gathering together for a "pigeon shoot". I think what with the cost of cartridges and the fact that nobody eats the birds any more the numbers have proliferated. Butchers shops used to have dead woodpigeon hanging up for people to buy and eat. Same goes for crows and rooks.

[Helen]

We still have pigeons for sale in butchers shops. Although I know it's not something you see on a regular basis.

[Fourwings]

There's certainly no shortage of Wood pidgeons in east Leicestershire,a large percentage of the arable land here is put down to Oil seed Rape and this attracts huge flocks of them.
I estimated that a flock I saw yesterday probably numbered 300+ but they were moving far too fast to get an acurate count, more than likely due to the fact that the pidgeon shooters were out in force due to the nice weather.