Taking stock of the humble dove
Ancient trees are coming to life – in many shades of grey. Long before the first green leaves appear after their winter slumbers, the countryside’s most understated birds are busy exploring woodlands to find nest holes for the coming spring.
Watching stock doves slaloming through the gnarled branches of oak, beech and lime trees at a stately home arboretum last week was a thought-provoking experience.
Why do so few birdwatchers revere this bird, so agile in flight and graced with a beautiful plumage?
Stock doves may be initially confused with scruffy town pigeons, but their subtle shades of greys and pinks, accentuated by iridescent neck markings glimmering like gemstones, are a thing of beauty.
Separating the stock dove from a woodpigeon in the field is not difficult given a good view.
The former is a smaller, more compact bird, missing the white “collar studs” of its heftier cousin.
The stock dove is far from uncommon and can be found in a surprisingly wide variety of habitats, ranging from open country to forest, so long as there are areas of bare ground for feeding on seeds and the presence of drinking water.
Safe nest holes are also vital, although when hollow trees are unavailable, they will choose rock crevices, old buildings and even rabbit burrows.
That said, grand old trees remain the favourite and provide the dove with its name. I long thought “stock” meant the doves were kept as a food source in bygone times, but the word relates to a wooden post, stump or tree trunk.
Surprisingly, stock doves are flourishing at rates that exceed the ubiquitous woodpigeon. The last decade has seen numbers increase by 41% so that an estimated 320,000 pairs are nesting in the UK.
By contrast, the woodpigeon declined by 2% between 2008 and 2018.
And because British stock dove numbers form a sizeable proportion of the global population, the bird has been given an Amber conservation listing.
They like to nest in old trees, which is where their name comes from