The Breeding of Urban Woodpigeons

Abstract

Summary Egg‐laying in Woodpigeons in central London lasts from March until September in normal years, with peak production in April and May, contrasting markedly with some rural areas in England where few clutches are completed before May and the peak months are July and August. Both appear to be determined by food supplies; London birds feed mainly on bread, supplemented by vegetable foods, which is in ample supply. so that they require much less time for feeding than rural birds in winter and early spring. They are thus able to breed over the whole period for which they are apparently physiologically capable. Breeding success in central London is almost double that in Cambridgeshire and nearly 50% above that in other rural areas, due to markedly lower predation, especially at the egg stage. The factors governing the breeding seasons of different populations of Woodpigeons are discussed.

Temporal patterns of wildlife roadkill in the UK

“…The broad summer mortality pattern of total roadkill could be due to breeding activity in temperate regions, where many taxa produce young during the spring and early summer [ 48 , 52 ] and therefore by late summer population sizes are high, boosted by the abundance of young of the year. Not only does this mean more individuals, so increasing the probability of a vehicle collision, but also an abundance of inexperienced juveniles which must disperse and may not yet have learned to avoid vehicles.…”

“…Gull chicks usually hatch in June in the UK [ 63 ], and many are unable to fly when they leave the nest in July, consistent with the peak in roadkill observations. Although many pigeon species can breed all year round, the main nesting season for the woodpigeon is between March and September, with peak egg-laying taking place in April and May [ 52 ], such that fledging pigeons may explain the single seasonal peak centred on July. Similarly, magpies peaked in June and July, at a time when magpie chicks usually fledge [ 64 ].…”

Reproductive behavior of the Scaly Dove (Scardafella Squammata Squammata)

“…Several explanations are given for the function of territorial behavior of birds according to different authors: (Nice, 1941;Collias, 1944;Davis, 1952;Hinde, 1956;Portmann, 1961;Etkin, 1964;Klopfer, 1969;Dimond, 1970;Pettingill, 1971;Dethier & Stellar, 1973;Brown, 1975;Morse, 1980;Ito, 1980;Deag, 1981). Assuring adequate food supply; regulating population density by reducing the intraspecific competition for partners, nesting places and food; decreasing of loss due to predators.…”

“…In nature I observed that the most a couple was able to reproduce successfully in one year was three times. Several authors, referring to different species of Columbidae, state that they may reproduce several times during a year and even during the whole year (Craig, 1911;Cole, 1933;Lack, 1947;Skutch, 1950;Skutch, 1956;Johnston, 1960;Cramp, 1972;Murton et al, 1972;Bucher & Orueta, 1977;Holcomb & Jaeger, 1978;Naether, 1979;.…”

Nest predation reduces benefits to early clutch initiation in northern cardinals Cardinalis cardinalis

“…These different ecological contexts of urban areas raise the question of whether the benefits of early breeding apply in urban systems. Urban ecosystems present an excellent opportunity to explore selective advantages of advanced clutch initiation because there is a well‐documented pattern of earlier breeding phenology in urban compared to rural systems, especially among resident and short‐distance migrant birds (Erz 1966, Cramp 1972, Eden 1985, Morneau et al 1995, Rollinson and Jones 2002, Antonov and Atanasova 2003, Schoech and Bowman 2003, Chamberlain et al 2009). In our own study system, we regularly find the earliest nesting northern cardinals in the most urban forests, even though the overall pattern of clutch initiation is largely the same between urban and rural forests (Shustack 2008).…”