Collared Dove v Wood Pigeon

Hi all,

Just wondered if anyone else had noticed a war between the Wood Pigeon & the Collared Dove?! I get both of these species regularly in my garden and I've noticed a real animosity between the two!! Not quite sure whether it's just because it's breeding season (?) or whether these two species just don't see eye to eye! The Collared Dove definitely seems to be the more dominant of the two despite their smaller size- they have been regularly seeing away Wood Pigeons in my garden and readily launching a full on attack on them!

I managed to take a few pictures last week which I'll share with you below...

Thanks for looking :)

x

  • I don't get Collared Doves in my garden, but I do have lots of Feral Pigeons. They sometimes have altercations with the Wood Pigeons, with plenty of posturing and wing slapping. The Wood Pidge has to back down in the end because he's hopelessly outnumbered! It's very entertaining to watch. Nice pics by the way.

    Unicum arbustum haud alit duos erithacos

    (One bush does not shelter two Robins)

    Zenodotus (3rd Century B.C.)

     

  • Great action sequence. Our Collared Doves and Wood Pigeons don't seem to clash, they usually visit at different times. At the moment, the Wood Pigeons are busy trying to mate. Well, the male is, the female either adroitly avoids him or gives him a swift peck ;-)

    "Let loose the Kraken!"

  • Around the grounds surrounding our little group of flats the Collared Doves rule the roost even scaring the Pheasants that wander in from the nearby fields.

    Pete

    Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can

  • Hi, sadly both one of my wood pigeons and one of my collared doves were widowed recently and for a while they came to the feeder as a pair, which I thought was really sweet. They have happily both found new partners now, but I'm not seeing any real animosity between them.