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Stock Dove? UK (2 Viewers)

bongofury

bongofury

Well-known member
In an urban riverside walkway in Glasgow today I saw a blue-grey 'pigeon' fly away from me with almost matching colour rump and no white wing bars. I relocated it in a tree, high up, but could only view from underneath. It was showing a wide black band at the bottom underside of the tail. A Woodpigeon was nearby and noticeably larger.

Can Feral Pigeon be ruled out based on the above or shall I put it down as one that got away?
 
bongofury said:
If anything it's the location that bothers me. I've only seen Stock in fields or at the coast.
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Had that been "In an urban riverside walkway in Northumberland", Stock Dove would be very reasonable, they're quite frequent in urban/industrial settings here (including e.g. nesting in crevices in the riverbank flood defences on the Tyne in Newcastle). Sorry, no experience of the situation in Glasgow!
 
Thanks, Nutcracker. That has led me to do some Googling and seemingly that is the case at this particular location too.

I'm now happy with the ID.
 
Feral Pigeon can't be ruled out on what you saw. If you didn't see enough to identify it with certainty at the time - which you obviously didn't as you felt the need to ask the opinion of others - then bin it! Why delude yourself? More likely to be Feral Pigeon, especially as it allowed approach close enough to view it from below. Stock Doves usually don't allow close approach. If you were familiar enough with Stock Dove to identify it with the poor views you had, then you would have got it on jizz in the first few seconds!
 
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My gut feeling on first sight was Stock Dove, but it was not a bird expected to see in this habitat. It flew from behind a wide stone statue which I wouldn't say was close to me. It was flushed on sound alone and retreated to a tall tree, the base of which was at the top of a high river bank.
 
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Rotherbirder said:
More likely to be Feral Pigeon, especially as it allowed approach close enough to view it from below. Stock Doves usually don't allow close approach. If you were familiar enough with Stock Dove to identify it with the poor views you had, then you would have got it on jizz in the first few seconds!
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Stock Doves can vary in their degree of shyness, though. I've seen some in a city park that weren't terribly concerned with the presence of humans (maybe they were local breeders). So if they're "urban" Stock Doves, it's possible that they're more tolerant of humans.
 
Yep - urban and suburban Stock Doves can be quite confiding - not quite so much as Wood Pigeons or Feral Pigeons, but still approachable.

But as the original post says - it did fly away. Perhaps that's good evidence that it wasn't a Feral Pigeon?? ;)
 

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Chris-Leeds said:
Would a feral pigeon land on a tree? I've never seen one use trees before.
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Yes, when they are there and they haven't got buildings to roost in, also cliffs etc. In the Azores I saw them in two types of environment, those that hang around towns and those that have gone back to nature and have colonised the coasts and cliffs.
 
Chris-Leeds said:
Would a feral pigeon land on a tree? I've never seen one use trees before.
Click to expand...

They live in trees in Southampton. If I ever feel the need to see a Feral Pigeon (not very often!), I just go to Southampton Common and look in the tree by the lake. We also have Stock Doves on the Common, but never in the same location as the FPs.
David
 
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