Summary The 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.
The gonads of Wood‐pigeons in a Cambridgeshire study area attain peak reproductive condition in July and this condition persists until late September or early October when rapid regression takes place. Gametogenesis recommences in early March. In the same area the Stock‐dove has a similar cycle but gametogenesis begins about two months earlier and regression apparentlytakes place about one month later. A wild Rock‐dove population at Flamborough Head, Yorkshire has an even longer physiological breeding season, gametogenesis commencing from December. Seasonal regression occurs in October.
Summary A Woodpigeon Columba palumbus population in East Anglia was studied for five years and the factors regulating numbers examined particularly the autumn and winter food supply and the shooting mortality in February and March. Woodpigeon numbers increased on average 2–4 times through breeding then dropped steeply between September and December. A small proportion of the loss was caused by emigration. Local movements occurred in late December and early January if snow forced the birds out of the study area to feed on nearby Brassica (none was available in the area). Numbers increased again when snow disappeared and then fell to a minimum in late February and March. In some years a slight rise occurred through immigration (Continental immigration is discussed), thereafter numbers decreased very slightly until the breeding season. Grain stocks were measured on the autumn stubbles by making random sample counts. Stocks were good in 1960 and 1962 owing to wet seasons and delayed ploughing, but were poor in 1959 and 1961. The number of Woodpigeons at the beginning of winter was positively correlated with the average amount of grain in October and November. A low early winter population was associated with a low proportion of juveniles. Adult weights in November and early December were unaffected by the autumn grain supply, but juveniles were much lighter at this time in the two years of low autumn grain stocks. It is presumed that they were unable to grow properly on a clover diet. Clover stocks dropped to a minimum in late February and early March and the pigeon population appeared to be limited by this food supply. During the winter the pigeons regularly ate up to 46% of the available clover, indicating that intraspecific competition was real. The amount of available clover increased rapidly in late March with the spring flush of vegetation. The survival or mortality rate of pigeons from December to early April was not correlated with clover density, nor was the mortality in autumn obviously correlated with grain stocks, and this is discussed. Battue shooting in February and March was not intensive enough to exceed natural winter mortality, and was more efficient at low population densities, but could not provide an effective regulatory mechanism. It is concluded that pigeons were shot between one and six weeks before they would have died in any case. No other important shooting mortality occurred during the winter. On average over the five years, population size increased from 63 birds per 100 acres in July to 154 (91 juveniles) after the breeding season. Of the total post‐breeding population, 36% died between September and December, 18% between December and February and 5% between February and July. Of the adults, 22% died between September and February compared with 77% of the juveniles, thereafter their mortality rates were equal. The investigation showed that adult annual mortality averaged 30% compared with 36% obtained from the national ringing recoveries (Murton 1961). It is concluded that the Woodpigeon...
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