Columba palumbus
Silhouette: Anthony Caravaggi · PhyloPic
The common wood pigeon (Columba palumbus), also known simply as the wood pigeon, is a large pigeon native to the western Palearctic. It belongs to the genus Columba, which includes closely related species such as the rock dove (Columba livia). It has a flexible diet, feeding mainly on plant material, including cereals, and is therefore considered an agricultural pest. Wood pigeons are extensively hunted over much of their range, but this does not appear to have a major impact on their population numbers.
The common wood pigeon was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other pigeons in the genus Columba and coined the binomial name Columba palumbus. The specific epithet palumbus is an alternate form of the Latin palumbes for a wood pigeon.
Five subspecies are recognised, one of which is now extinct: Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Madrid | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 3 | Paris | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 6 | Brussels | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 7 | Leeds | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 8 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 9 | Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 10 | Essen | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moscow Zoo | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 2 | Lusen National Park Centre | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 3 | Yerevan Zoo | 🇦🇲 Armenia | |
| 4 | Wildwood Discovery Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Santillana Zoo | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 7 | World of Birds Wildlife Sanctuary and Monkey Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 8 | Yalta Zoo | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 9 | Zoo Koki (Parque zoológico y botánico) | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 10 | Castellar Zoo | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 11 | Parco Gallorose | 🇮🇹 Italy |
Very likely
About 90% of wildlife watchers report a Wood Pigeon sighting in Madrid on a given day, based on 15,731 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 2nd most-seen of the 196 birds we can rate there.
May to August
In those months over 90% of wildlife watchers report a Wood Pigeon in Madrid on a given day, against about 90% in September to April, the lowest months. Those are among Madrid's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain a month against 65 mm in October.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Wood Pigeon sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 63 cities where we can rate Wood Pigeon sightings, Madrid ranks 2nd at about 90%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Liverpool (United Kingdom, about 90%).
Same genus: Columba
The closest relatives of the Wood Pigeon that you can see in Madrid (genus Columba, Typical Old World Pigeons) are Rock Pigeon (about 70%) and Stock Dove (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Wood Pigeon is recorded against all the birds logged in Madrid (15,731 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
