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BTO Blueline
WOODPIGEON
Columba palumbus
Woodpigeon © Mike Weston
 

• Population
  changes

• Productivity
  trends

• Additional
  information
Conservation listings
Europe: no SPEC category (concentrated in Europe, conservation status favourable)
UK: green
Long-term trend
UK, England: rapid increase
UK population size
2,570,000–3,160,000 territories in 2000 (1988–91 Atlas estimate updated using CBC/BBS trend: BiE04, APEP06)
Status summary
The CBC/BBS trend for this species is of a steady, steep increase since at least the mid 1970s. The spread of intensive arable cultivation, especially of oilseed rape, which has been shown to promote overwinter survival, may explain the rise in numbers (Gibbons et al. 1993). Since 1994, BBS has recorded significant increase in the UK, and in England, Wales and Northern Ireland separately, but stability in Scotland. O'Connor & Shrubb (1986) found that the breeding season had advanced in response to the switch to autumn sowing, and thus earlier ripening, of cereals, with more pairs nesting in May and June and relatively fewer in July–September. Earlier nesting could have led CBC, with fieldwork finishing in early July, to overestimate the rate of increase (Marchant et al. 1990). Numbers have risen widely in Europe since 1980 (PECBM 2006).
 

Population changes
CBC/BBS UK graph
 
BBS acknowledgement
 
CBC/BBS England graph
BBS UK graph
BBS England graph
BBS Scotland graph
BBS Wales graph
BBS N Ireland graph
 

Productivity trends
Productivity information is not currently available for this species
 

Additional information
BTO blue divider
 

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This report should be cited as:
Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Crick, H.Q.P., Noble, D.G., Balmer, D.E., Barimore, C., Coombes, R.H.,
Downie, I.S., Freeman, S.N., Joys, A.C., Leech, D.I., Raven, M.J., Robinson, R.A. & Thewlis, R.M. (2007)
Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2007.
BTO Research Report No. 487. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends)

Pages maintained by Susan Waghorn and Iain Downie: Last updated 7 November, 2008