Stock Dove

How to identify

Field marks

1. Plumage blue-gray
2. Patch on side of neck with a metallic gloss shifting between green and purple with the light
3. A single broad dark gray band at tail tip
4. Bill pink, with yellow tip

Male, female and young

Sexes cannot be distinguished by plumage; male is slightly larger; juvenile is similar but lacks the patch with a metallic gloss on the side of the neck.

Voice

A short, low “Ooo-uu-ooh”, like a gurgle, unlike the rising and falling cooing of Common Wood Pigeon.

Similar species

Rock Dove

Similar in size and plumage; wild Rock Dove has brighter eyes, a white rump, and two complete dark bands on the upperwing, whereas Stock Dove has a gray rump and incomplete wing-bars.

Common Wood Pigeon

Common Wood Pigeon is larger with pale yellow eyes; adult has white on the neck and wings and is easy to distinguish.

Where and when it's recorded

Stock Dove has been recorded at 955 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 62 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

1. Amwell HMWT NRUnited Kingdom4,572 records
2. Beddington FarmlandsUnited Kingdom3,124 records
3. Rutland WaterUnited Kingdom2,393 records

Countries and regions with the most records

United KingdomSpainGermanyNetherlandsSwedenFranceFinlandBelgium

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The stock dove (Columba oenas) is a species of bird in the family Columbidae, the doves and pigeons. It is widely distributed in the western Palearctic, north to central Scandinavia and south to northwest Africa. Western and southern populations are resident, while northeastern populations are migratory to avoid the colder winters there.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

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