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FERAL PIGEON
Columba livia

Feral Pigeon © John Tully
 

• Population
  changes

• Productivity
  trends

• Additional
  information
Conservation listings
Europe: no SPEC category (favourable conservation status in Europe, not concentrated in Europe)
UK: green
Long-term trend
UK: possible increase
UK population size
>100,000 pairs in 1968–72 (1968–72 Atlas: APEP06); 100,000–250,000 pairs in 1988–91 (BiE04)
Status summary
CBC samples for Feral Pigeon were consistently too small for annual monitoring, and there was no trend information before BBS began in 1994. Breeding atlas data show a 39% increase in occupied 10-km squares between 1968–72 and 1988–91 (Gibbons et al. 1993), suggesting that Feral Pigeons may be on an upward trajectory, like the other Columba species in the UK. At the time of the first atlas, however, Feral Pigeons were commonly excluded from bird surveys, and some of the reported subsequent range increase may have been due to greater observer awareness. It is now clear that Feral Pigeons are almost ubiquitous in the UK, nesting in rural as well as urban habitats, and avoiding only the highest ground. No distinction can realistically be drawn between birds of domestic origin and true wild-type Rock Doves, although birds of wild-type plumage may still predominate on remote Scottish islands. In field conditions, it is not usually possible to distinguish between native Rock Doves, wild-nesting Feral Pigeons, semicaptive dovecote breeders, and passing racing pigeons, nor between adults and young of the year, and BBS counts are likely to include birds from all of these groups. BBS indices suggest that a minor decrease has occurred in the last five years.
 

Population changes
BBS UK graph
 
Table of population changes for Feral Pigeon/Rock Dove

Source Period
(yrs)		 Years Plots
(n)		 Change
(%)		 Lower
limit		 Upper
limit		 Alert Comment
BBS UK 11 1995-2006 617 -5 -17 8    
  10 1996-2006 634 -6 -15 5    
  5 2001-2006 676 -9 -16 -1    
BBS England 11 1995-2006 517 -5 -16 6    
  10 1996-2006 531 -5 -15 5    
  5 2001-2006 562 -7 -16 -1    
BBS Scotland 11 1995-2006 55 -12 -43 32    
  10 1996-2006 56 -13 -40 24    
  5 2001-2006 58 -17 -34 5    
BBS Wales 11 1995-2006 31 43 -12 100    
  10 1996-2006 33 29 -12 70    
  5 2001-2006 37 -4 -24 19    

BBS acknowledgement
 
BBS England graph
BBS Scotland 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., Leech, D.I., Joys, A.C., Noble, D.G.,
Barimore, C., Grantham, M.J., Risely, K. & Robinson, R.A. (2009).
Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2008.
BTO Research Report No. 516. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends)

Pages maintained by Iain Downie, Mandy T Andrews and Laura Smith: Last updated 18.02.2009