Thursday 7 February 2013

Funny looking Woodpigeon

I know pigeons and doves can breed throughout the winter but I was a little shocked to see this woodpigeon without a white neck-collar today on the 7th Feb.I'm not sure if there is some form of abnormal moult going on here or is this simply a juvenile bird that hatched in the winter months moulting into adult plumage? Can any of you ringer sorts with a better grasp on moult help out here?

4 comments:

  1. Juvenile Woodpigeons have a near-complete post-juvenile moult but suspend their moult (at whatever point they're at) during the winter months. Early hatched birds will have finished their moult by Nov/Dec and won't have any active moult to suspend. It is however quite common to see “first-winter” Woodpigeons that have suspended moult before completing moult of the primaries — these are presumably summer hatched birds. Late-hatched birds have little time to moult much (any) plumage before suspending moult in late-Nov/Dec. The moult starts up again in early spring. I'd guess by the amount of plumage moulted on this bird that it was hatched in about October. The blue-grey coverts/scapulars/head feather, the darker pink breast feathers and the hint of white on the neck were all likely moulted late last autumn before this bird suspended moult over the winter.

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  2. Thanks for that Stephen.It's always nice to learn something new about common birds that you haven't noticed before. It's much appreciated!

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  3. Hi, so is the bird photo above a wood pigeon as I have an injured one I have rescued and not sure what it is but looks like the photo above

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  4. Yes wood pigeons take a bit longer than ferals to become adults and the collar can be delayed as long as a year in birds missing good nutrition & D3.
    Juveniles are the birds most often brought to rehabilitators after being caught & maimed by predators. They're large bodied and can give a powerful wing punch using the edge of the wing. They also go for the eye of their enemy & ours soon see the huge Red kites off on their way.

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