Woodpigeon
A regular garden visitor the Woodpigeon is a large bold looking bird, with distinctive markings. During the summer months they have a dreamy cooing song. They can become quite tame especially in parks and gardens. Their nests are not the normal conventional type of nest but just a small platform of twigs. I have a pair nesting in the garden and have set up their home in a bayleaf tree, just 5ft off the ground. They have a beautiful deep pink colouring on their breast as well as a bold white patch on either side of their neck. After a decline in the 1950's and 1960's, wood pigeons are doing well in the countryside and in urban areas. They are the UK's largest pigeon. They are mainly vegetarian, and can be a pest on garden brassicas such as gabbages. Their growing numbers in gardens is actually linked to a rise in rural populations: the intensification of agriculture and especially the rise in oilseed rape fields.
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