British Pigeons and Doves visiting ‘Charnwood’

During the winter and early spring of 2007 the garden at Charnwood has been privileged to be visited by all four of the members of the Pigeon and Dove family currently native to Britain: the woodpigeon, stock dove, collar (or ring) dove and rock dove (otherwise known as the feral pigeon) and I have put recent photographs together for the sake of comparison.

Woodpigeon – the largest of our native species with a distinctive white collar on its neck	Stock Doves, which are about the same size as the feral pigeons (Rock Doves) picture below but more like the woodpigeon in shape but with a distinctive bluish flash of colour on the neck
Collar or Ring Doves, which are a more recent introduction into this country whose numbers have grown since the 1950s as they spread northwards	The native Rock Dove lives mostly on cliffs near to the coast but the bird on the top right has typical Rock Dove markings and a ring on its right leg. The other two are more typical of the variable colours of Feral Doves, which are descended from Ring Doves bred for racing and the pot

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