Often mistaken for a feral pigeon this bird is still not that common. This one has probably travelled south from Scotland, although I could not tell if it had an accent. Locally, the Wood pigeon is the dominant species, so finding a Stock Dove is a rare treat.
While wood pigeons are a serious pest of farm crops, stock doves tend to rely on seeds from wild plants. In the past the flocks of wood pigeon were so vast that they could devastate a farmers grain crop, but following the second world war, with numbers seriously reduced, populations of birds like Stock Doves were able to repopulate areas that they been displaced from by the Wood pigeon.
The problem started with the changes in agriculture back in the 1700s. The enclosures of traditional strip farming lands, while improving yields for human consumption, also enabled the wood pigeon to increase in numbers. This helped displace other species like Stock Doves and Turtle Doves. It was not until the Second World War when food supplies were under stress that action was finally taken to control the wood pigeon, were the government paid for the ammunition to shoot them. As will as supplementing the diet, this enabled farmers to finally reduce the population of a serious pest species.
All this had the other benefit of providing the space in the ecology that allowed the numbers of Stock dove and Turtledoves to recover. Also, it created the additional benefit of allowing the collard dove to introduce its self in to Britain in the 1950s.
While the wood pigeon is still a numerous pest, its numbers are nowhere near as high as they were at the turn of the twentieth century. While the actions taken to control them were not designed as conservation measures, they did benefit the environment.
It is only when we see birds like the Stock Dove can we see the effect of measures taken years ago.
While wood pigeons are a serious pest of farm crops, stock doves tend to rely on seeds from wild plants. In the past the flocks of wood pigeon were so vast that they could devastate a farmers grain crop, but following the second world war, with numbers seriously reduced, populations of birds like Stock Doves were able to repopulate areas that they been displaced from by the Wood pigeon.
The problem started with the changes in agriculture back in the 1700s. The enclosures of traditional strip farming lands, while improving yields for human consumption, also enabled the wood pigeon to increase in numbers. This helped displace other species like Stock Doves and Turtle Doves. It was not until the Second World War when food supplies were under stress that action was finally taken to control the wood pigeon, were the government paid for the ammunition to shoot them. As will as supplementing the diet, this enabled farmers to finally reduce the population of a serious pest species.
All this had the other benefit of providing the space in the ecology that allowed the numbers of Stock dove and Turtledoves to recover. Also, it created the additional benefit of allowing the collard dove to introduce its self in to Britain in the 1950s.
While the wood pigeon is still a numerous pest, its numbers are nowhere near as high as they were at the turn of the twentieth century. While the actions taken to control them were not designed as conservation measures, they did benefit the environment.
It is only when we see birds like the Stock Dove can we see the effect of measures taken years ago.
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