Ray Collier Country Diary- Collard Doves
Collard Doves - 22nd December 2008
There are plenty of pigeons and doves, sometimes called doos in the Highlands, in and around Inverness. At this time of the year large flocks of feral pigeons sometimes form of over a hundred birds or more. They will rest on the tops of buildings and, increasingly, they plunder bird tables and feeders in gardens. They compete on the tables and feeders with collared doves and, increasingly, wood pigeons. There seems to be a very variable range of colour in the feral birds and it can all be rather confusing. So what should be called doves and what should be called pigeons? The woodpigeon is straightforward with no other birds interbreeding with them. They are large plump birds with grey upperparts and pinkish underparts. Collared doves often feed with them on bird tables and the photograph was taken of one of these attractive doves on a table near Inverness. The collared dove is now widespread in the Highlands and the Western and Northern Isles. It seems difficult to accept that it did not breed in Britain until the 1950s.
The flocks of so called feral pigeons are a different and more complex matter as far as their origin is concerned. Despite their wide range of variations in colour including black and white ones they are all from the same source namely rock doves. A few decades ago there were three groups of the pigeons. One was the true rock dove that was a species in its own right. It was mainly found along the coasts of the Highlands and Islands where it bred in caves. These colonies were not necessarily remote as there are "doo" caves along the coast of the Black Isle near Ethie. Charles St. John in the 1850s went there and stood outside whilst the rock doves were disturbed and he shot them as they flew out.
Another group of pigeons were in the doocots scattered throughout the Highlands and Northern Isles, but for some reason, not the Western Isles. As these very old buildings fell into disuse the pigeons fared well in the general countryside and as they spread they met and paired successfully with the rock doves. The third group were the pigeons of the lofts holding birds for racing. Some of these birds just never came back, for a wide range of reasons, from their races. They moved into the countryside and they too made contact with rock doves and paired successfully.
The result of the masses of feral pigeons in various parts of the Highlands is that it seems likely that there are no true rock doves now breeding anywhere in the Highlands and Islands. A decade or so ago, perhaps even longer, there were claims that true rock doves still bred in the Western and Northern Isles. The current picture is unclear but what is the fact is that even 15 years ago there was a feral pigeon with a small party of rock doves on North Rona, forty miles north east of Lewis. The current feral flocks cause damage to structures by their droppings and compete with other birds for food, even in gardens within Inverness. To many people they are treasured and people just love feeding them. To others they are called " rats with wings" because they consume so much. Part of their success is that they have been found breeding in every month of the year even in winter. Such is the case in Inverness and other towns simply because the temperature is often several degrees higher that the surrounding countryside.
There are plenty of pigeons and doves, sometimes called doos in the Highlands, in and around Inverness. At this time of the year large flocks of feral pigeons sometimes form of over a hundred birds or more. They will rest on the tops of buildings and, increasingly, they plunder bird tables and feeders in gardens. They compete on the tables and feeders with collared doves and, increasingly, wood pigeons. There seems to be a very variable range of colour in the feral birds and it can all be rather confusing. So what should be called doves and what should be called pigeons? The woodpigeon is straightforward with no other birds interbreeding with them. They are large plump birds with grey upperparts and pinkish underparts. Collared doves often feed with them on bird tables and the photograph was taken of one of these attractive doves on a table near Inverness. The collared dove is now widespread in the Highlands and the Western and Northern Isles. It seems difficult to accept that it did not breed in Britain until the 1950s.
The flocks of so called feral pigeons are a different and more complex matter as far as their origin is concerned. Despite their wide range of variations in colour including black and white ones they are all from the same source namely rock doves. A few decades ago there were three groups of the pigeons. One was the true rock dove that was a species in its own right. It was mainly found along the coasts of the Highlands and Islands where it bred in caves. These colonies were not necessarily remote as there are "doo" caves along the coast of the Black Isle near Ethie. Charles St. John in the 1850s went there and stood outside whilst the rock doves were disturbed and he shot them as they flew out.
Another group of pigeons were in the doocots scattered throughout the Highlands and Northern Isles, but for some reason, not the Western Isles. As these very old buildings fell into disuse the pigeons fared well in the general countryside and as they spread they met and paired successfully with the rock doves. The third group were the pigeons of the lofts holding birds for racing. Some of these birds just never came back, for a wide range of reasons, from their races. They moved into the countryside and they too made contact with rock doves and paired successfully.
The result of the masses of feral pigeons in various parts of the Highlands is that it seems likely that there are no true rock doves now breeding anywhere in the Highlands and Islands. A decade or so ago, perhaps even longer, there were claims that true rock doves still bred in the Western and Northern Isles. The current picture is unclear but what is the fact is that even 15 years ago there was a feral pigeon with a small party of rock doves on North Rona, forty miles north east of Lewis. The current feral flocks cause damage to structures by their droppings and compete with other birds for food, even in gardens within Inverness. To many people they are treasured and people just love feeding them. To others they are called " rats with wings" because they consume so much. Part of their success is that they have been found breeding in every month of the year even in winter. Such is the case in Inverness and other towns simply because the temperature is often several degrees higher that the surrounding countryside.
posted by Corinne @ 11:58 AM
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