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Photo: Frank Vassen from Brussels, Belgium · CC BY 2.0 ↗
Columba oenas
Stock Dove
A discreet pigeon easily overlooked among Woodpigeons or feral pigeons.
A recording has not been added yet. Use the identification notes below for now.
I know this bird · Record a sighting Where to look & how to find it ↓FIELDCRAFT · FIND WITH CARE
Finding guide
Choose the season, find the habitat, then watch patiently. Search guidance is not a measure of rarity or conservation status.
- When to go
- All year, but locally distributed
- Where to start
- Look especially around hedged arable land and seed-rich stubbles in the east and southeast.
- What to do when you arrive
- Scan pigeons near arable land from public routes for smaller grey birds lacking Woodpigeon's white neck and wing patches. Distribution is local; do not force distant identifications.
Habitat and behaviour reference: BirdWatch Ireland ↗ · The practical steps are editorial advice based on the references, not live sightings.
No sufficiently evidenced, suitable public destination is included yet, so no speculative marker is shown. Start with habitat and season; an absent marker does not imply an absent species.
How to identify it
Blue-grey with dark eyes, green neck sheen and short dark wing marks. Lacks Woodpigeon's white neck patch and wing-bars, and the white rump of typical Rock Dove.
Habitat
Arable fields, stubbles, hedges and open woodland edges.
Behaviour
Feeds on seeds in fields and nests in cavities in old trees.
When to look
All year, but locally distributed
Where to look
Look especially around hedged arable land and seed-rich stubbles in the east and southeast.
Reference photos do not show every sex, age, season or geographic form; use the identification notes too.
Further reading:BirdWatch Ireland ↗ · Wikipedia ↗
COMMUNITY SIGHTINGS
Recent encounters
No public sightings yet.
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