Common woodpigeon

    Columba palumbus

Castilian: Paloma torcaz

Catalan: Tudó

Gallego: Pombo torcaz

Euskera: Pagausoa

CLASIFICACIÓN:

Orden: Columbiformes

Family: Columbidae

Migratory status: Permanent resident

CONSERVATION STATUS:

In the 2004 edition of the Red Book of Spanish Birds (Libro Rojo de las Aves de España) it is listed as “Not Evaluated”.

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THREATS

Even though the species is expanding, it is significantly affected by pressure from hunters, which could negatively affect trans-Pyrenean migrating populations.

Length / size: 40-42 cm / 75-80 cm

Identification: Medium-sized bird whose plumage is greyish and which has a robust pink breast, along with some white spots on its neck and wings that are visible when the bird is in flight.

Song: It makes a deep and strong cooing, "goo-gooo-goo".

Diet: It feeds on seeds (acorns, beechnuts), dicotyledonous leaves, and cultivated plants. Chicks are fed with a milky secretion that the adults produce.

Reproduction: The nest is a structure made of branches that the bird covers with leaves and grass, and which is located atop trees or bushes. Both adults incubate the eggs.

HABITAT

It occupies anywhere from forest areas to open spaces on grain-producing plains, as well as urban parks and gardens.

DISTRIBUTION

In Spain: It is distributed throughout the entire country, but is absent in the Canary Islands and Melilla.

In Castile and León: It breeds in all the provinces.

Movements and migrations: The Iberian populations make dispersive movements in winter. Also, the peninsula is the primary wintering area for central and northern European populations. The postnuptial passage takes place in October-November through the western Pyrenees, and the spring one in February-March, further to the east.

POPULATION

In Spain: There is an estimated population of 220000-240000 breeding pairs.

In Castile and León: