Ilkley North West Trail #5: Too Fat to Fly?
This is the 5th of a 13-cache series which takes you on a 4.3km trail around some of the lovely countryside between Middleton and Austby immediately to the northwest of Ilkley above the north bank of the Wharfe. Allowing for an easy pace, stopping for caches | to admire the view | spot birds the trail should take you about 3 hours or so.
See GC8Q381 Ilkley NorthWest Trail #1: Intro & Start for background info on the trail and parking waypoints. See Gallery for a map of the trail showing parking spots and approximate cache locations.
The cache, a camo-taped plastic jar, is hidden in an old twisted hawthorn bush on one of the sloping grassy fields stretching up from Low Austby Farm to High Austby Farm.
As I crossed the field up to the cache location a couple of these large plump grey birds were foraging on the grass and then clattered noisily across to the nearby woodland. Of course these birds are seen all over the place and are common garden visitors, plonking themselves on bird tables/feeders and stuffing themselves . . . see below.
The (common) wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) is a large species in the dove and pigeon family. It is also known as the woody, cushat, cushy-do, quist, ringdow and ring dove and locally known in SE England as the 'culver' giving rise to naming of several areas known for keeping pigeons, eg. Culver Down. There are 4 sub-species of which the one occurring here is the nominate C. p. palumbus.
It is easily the commonest large bird in UK with approx 5.5 million pairs. Although shy in the countryside it can be tame and approachable in towns and cities. Its cooing call is a familiar sound in woodlands (listen here) as is the loud clatter of its wings when it flies away.
My neighbour, an accomplished naturalist and poet, penned the following poem about it . . .
Jenny Dixon
Some QI facts . . .
1. Feeding flocks are highly gregarious, and may number many 1,000s of birds.
2. In many parts of Europe it the favourite prey of the goshawk.
3. Though breeding can occur any month, the peak for fledging is August. A female woody never lays >2 two eggs in a clutch but may lay up to 6 repeat clutches/year if she loses her eggs. The nest is a simple platform of twigs, usually built in a tree. Where trees are scarce these adaptable birds will build inside buildings, or even on the ground.
It takes 17 days for an egg to hatch and another 30-34 for the chick to fledge. Squabs are fed by both parents on crop or pigeon milk - an extremely rich fluid produced during breeding season. Most young birds die in their 1st year but the oldest recorded age for a ringed wild bird is over 16.
4. In winter the pecking rate when feeding increases from ~70/minute in the morning to >100/min before going to roost.
5. Though most feeding is on the ground, they are very agile when feeding in trees. It is mostly vegetarian taking round and fleshy leaves from open fields, gardens and lawns - young shoots and seedlings are favoured. It also eats grain, pine nuts, some fruits & berries, larvae, ants, and small worms. In the autumn it goes for figs and acorns. Its crop capacity is remarkable - it can hold up to 150 acorns, 1,000 grains of wheat or 200 beans!
In winter it fills its crop and digests the food overnight - its favourite food then is oilseed rape - which partly explains why they are thriving in the countryside - as well as buds of trees and bushes. They need open water to drink and bathe in.
6. A young woody takes 16 weeks to get its distinctive white neck ring.
7. UK populations are mostly sedentary, seldom moving >10 miles from where they hatched, but northern European birds are strongly migratory, moving south towards the Mediterranean every autumn.
8. It is a much-valued sporting bird, but despite year-round shooting its number continue to grow.
9. It is one of the few birds that thrive in intensively farmed countryside, while equally at home in town parks and suburban gardens. However, it is a major agricultural pest, causing at least £3 million crop damage/year.
See here for more info on this commonly seen (and heard) bird.
Videos: see here (feeding with a goldfinch), here (calling, nest) and here ('underrated & unnoticed')