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Stock Dove
Columba oenas
45.7489, 4.795
Field Notes
Description:
Another surprise lucky shot of the smallest, the scarcest and the most discreet of three European pigeons. About 30cm in length, mainly pale blue-grey with pale red-wine coloured chest, and distinctive green iridescent neck patch. Main difference from Rock dove are the small, discreet, blackish wing patches - whereas the Rock dove sports two distinctive black full wing bars. Legs are reddish, while the bill is reddish with a yellow tip. Sexes are similar, while juveniles would be uniformly grey, lacking colours on chest and neck.
Habitat:
Seen in the garden of a national monument, "le Château Voltaire" - a castle owned by François-Marie Arouet - French philosopher better known by his pseudo 'Voltaire". The garden has a protected forested part (a part of an ancient, much bigger but now destructed forest), and contains some interesting old trees; oaks and beech mainly, some fir and few plane trees. There are also two meadows inside, combined with small wetland. The castle itself is bordered by fragmented lowland deciduous forest (remnants of that old one) and agricultural fields.
Notes:
1. The Stock dove used to be the most common European pigeon. It became the rarest because of habitat destruction and deforestation. 2. For more information about this bird, I recommend the second reference added to this spotting - an excellent article (in french) on oiseaux.net. 3. I got a few shots already this winter (those were first ones for me: https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/8448559) but, here, few days later I got another chance for better shots during the French National Garden birds counting weekend.
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