Stock Dove

Columba oenas

The song of the Stock Dove is one of the subtlest of all our birds.

Like other doves and pigeons, it’s a variation on a ‘coo’, but the stock dove sounds as though it’s doing things in reverse.

Imagine the bird is scratching a record like a DJ, swiping it backwards and forwards.

Once warmed up it repeats this quite rhythmically a few times, adding to distinct Club Classics vibes.

It’s a sound most often encountered in woodland and wooded countryside, and sometimes in town parks and large gardens.

Getting a look at what’s making the noise is a whole other trick. Stock Doves like to tuck themselves away, high in an old tree, among the leaves. It’s here that a pair will often make their summer home, in a natural cavity or maybe in a box intended for an owl. Where there are fewer trees, farm buildings are favoured.

They are easier to see in the winter, when they flock and feed together on open ground, especially around arable fields.

At first look it’s easy to pass over a stock dove as a young Woodpigeon (one without the white bits), or perhaps a smart Feral Pigeon.

A closer look confirms they are more compact than a Woodpigeon, with an iridescent bottle-green patch on the neck and a plum-coloured blush to the chest. 

The back is slate grey with darker charcoal edges to the tail and flight feathers. In flight this appears as a strong border all the way around the wings, which is distinctive and adds to the overall neatness of their appearance. 

The eye is black, lending them a softer, less demented expression to the face.

Stock Doves continue to call from their favoured shady spots on and off through the summer. Once you know their rhythmic schtick it can be surprising how many are DJing up there in the trees.