Bird of the week - Wood pigeon

Often seen and often heard, the wood pigeon is a familiar bird in gardens and in the countryside.  Its name is sometimes written as woodpigeon (BTO, RSPB, BBC, etc) and otherwise wood pigeon (International Ornithological Committee, Wikipedia, Collins' Bird Guide, BBC, etc).  It doesn't appear to be the brightest of birds and is very wary.

The wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) is a bird that has thrived in recent years, perhaps because of the widespread planting of oil seed rape.

The numbers recorded by BTO Garden BirdWatch are also increasing.  The numbers in my garden peak in the autumn with sometimes 30 birds looking for acorns.  Otherwise they are a constant  presence under the feeders.

Wood pigeons are found in most of lowland Britain, being more common in  the south and east.

Read more about wood pigeons here.  Watch a BTO video on pigeon ID here.  Listen to the BBC Radio 4 Tweet of the Day on wood pigeon here.  Read BBC Food recipes for wood pigeon here.