Columba oenas

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Euavialae
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Cladus: Columbimorphae
Ordo: Columbiformes

Familia: Columbidae
Subfamilia: Columbinae
Genus: Columba
Species: Columba oenas
Subspecies: C. o. oenas – C. o. yarkandensis
Name

Columba oenas Linnaeus, 1758

References

Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Holmiæ: impensis direct. Laurentii Salvii. i–ii, 1–824 pp DOI: 10.5962/bhl.title.542: 162. Reference page.

Vernacular names
العربية: حمام بري
azərbaycanca: Xırda meşə göyərçini
башҡортса: Урман күгәрсене
беларуская: Клінтух
български: Гълъб хралупар
brezhoneg: Koulm c'hlas
català: Xixella
čeština: Holub doupňák
чӑвашла: Ӳлтек
Cymraeg: Colomen wyllt
dansk: Huldue
Deutsch: Hohltaube
Ελληνικά: Φασσοπερίστερο
English: Stock Dove
Esperanto: Trukolombo
español: Paloma zurita
eesti: Õõnetuvi
euskara: Txoloma
فارسی: کبوتر کوهپایه
suomi: Uuttukyyhky
føroyskt: Holudúgva
Nordfriisk: Dünemdüüw
français: Pigeon colombin
Gaeilge: Colm gorm
galego: Pomba zura
עברית: יונת עצים
hrvatski: Golub dupljaš
magyar: Kék galamb
հայերեն: Հոբալ
íslenska: Holudúfa
italiano: Colombella
日本語: ヒメモリバト
ქართული: გვიძინი
қазақша: Түзкептер
한국어: 분홍가슴비둘기
кыргызча: Токой көгүчкөнү
lietuvių: Uldukas
latviešu: Meža balodis
македонски: Планински гулаб
монгол: Хүнхэл тагтаа
кырык мары: Ӱлдӹк кӓдӹ
Nederlands: Holenduif
norsk nynorsk: Skogdue
norsk: Skogdue
polski: Siniak
پنجابی: رکھ کگی
português: Seixa
русский: Клинтух
srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски: Golub dupljaš
slovenčina: Holub plúžik
slovenščina: Duplar
shqip: Pëllumbi i pyllit
српски / srpski: Голуб дупљаш
svenska: Skogsduva
Türkçe: Gökçe güvercin
українська: Голуб-синяк
吴语: 欧鸽
中文: 欧鸽

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.

Taxonomy

The stock dove was first formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other pigeons in the genus Columba and coined the binomial name Columba oenas.[2] The specific name oenas is from the Ancient Greek oinas meaning "pigeon".[3]

Two subspecies are recognised:[4]

C. o. oenas Linnaeus, 1758 – western Europe and Northwest Africa to northern Kazakhstan, southwestern Siberia and northern Iran
C. o. yarkandensis Buturlin, 1908 – southeastern Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to western China

Description

The genus Columba is in the pigeon family, and has the widest distribution. Its members are typically pale grey or brown, often with white head or neck markings or iridescent green or purple patches on the neck and breast. The neck feathers may be stiffened and aligned to form grooves, but these are absent in this species. The stock dove is less grey in plumage than other pigeons in Europe.

The three western European Columba pigeons, though alike, have very distinctive characteristics. The common wood pigeon may be readily distinguished by its large size, as well as the white on its neck (in adults) and wings. The rock dove and stock dove are more alike in size and plumage, but wild specimens of the former have a white rump and two well-marked dark bars on the wing, while the rump of the stock dove is grey and its wing bars incomplete. The feral pigeon (the same species as the rock dove) is highly variable, and indistinctly marked grey specimens with the white rump missing can sometimes resemble the stock dove quite closely.

The stock dove is sociable as well as gregarious, often consorting with wood pigeons, though doubtless it is the presence of food which brings them together.

The short, deep, "grunting" Ooo-uu-ooh call is quite distinct from the modulated cooing notes of the common wood pigeon; it is loud enough to be described, somewhat fancifully, as "roaring".
Ecology

The stock dove is the scarcest of the wild European pigeons, though still common in ideal habitat. In part of its European and western Asiatic range it is a migrant. There has been a sharp decline in France (−57% in 1976). Although the species is not considered threatened in Europe, it is classified in Schedule 2 of the Birds Directive and Annex III the Berne Convention.[5] 100,000 to 200,000 individuals winter in France.[6] Over half of the European stock dove population is found in the UK.[7]

The nest is usually in a hole in an old tree. Before deforestation, the stock dove was the most frequent pigeon, nesting mostly in oak or pine wood, but as it usually nests in cavities in trees it was normally only found in old forests. In plantations there are not as many holes to nest in, so it is scarcer. In addition, as the stock dove is double-brooded, requiring two holes for its broods. It has been observed nesting in rabbit burrows, ruins, old poplar hedges, cracks in crags or cliff faces, in ivy, and in the thick growth around the boles of lime trees. It will also use nest boxes. The cavity should be about 75 centimetres deep and the hole should be big enough to admit a fist. Though nesting material is seldom used, the squabs leave the hole very oily. Stock doves prefer to nest close together. Outside of the breeding season, stock doves may also roost in cavities.

The habitat of the stock dove is generally open country. Even though it nests in trees it does not prefer densely wooded areas. It is also common on coasts where the cliffs provide holes.

Its flight is quick, performed by regular beats, with an occasional sharp flick of the wings, a characteristic of pigeons in general. It perches well, and in nuptial display walks along a horizontal branch with swelled neck, lowered wings, and fanned tail. During the circling spring flight the wings are smartly cracked like a whip.

Most of its food is plant material; young shoots and seedlings are favoured, and it will take grain as well as insects and snails. In some areas it feeds mostly on acorns and pine seeds. Its diet can include a variety of foods: berries such as bay and hawthorn, figs, cereal grains, beans, peas, and small invertebrates that are obtained while walking on the ground. During autumn migration in October, stock doves stop over at places with an abundance of acorns, supplementing the diet with shoots and leaves.
Etymology

The common name stock dove has caused some confusion about the origins of this bird. The modern usage of the word "stock" might imply that the bird has been tamed and kept as stock for food and merchandise, leading to the belief that this bird is a hybrid breed with its origins in human aviaries; however, this is not the case. The word "stock" in the common name of this species refers not to the stock of trade, but comes from the Old English "stocc" meaning "stump, post, stake, tree trunk, log,".[8] Therefore, "stock dove" means roughly "a dove which lives in hollow trees".[9] Such hollow trees near human settlements would often be taken and used as wood stock for firewood, hence the name.

The genus name Columba is the Latin word meaning "pigeon, dove",[10] whose older etymology comes from the Ancient Greek κόλυμβος (kolumbos), "a diver", from κολυμβάω (kolumbao), "dive, plunge headlong, swim".[11] Aristophanes (Birds, 304) and others use the word κολυμβίς (kolumbis), "diver", for the name of the bird, because of its swimming motion in the air.[10]
References

BirdLife International (2016). "Columba oenas". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22690088A86074207. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22690088A86074207.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae:Laurentii Salvii. p. 162.
Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 280. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (2020). "Pigeons". IOC World Bird List Version 10.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
État de santé des populations d'oiseaux nicheurs en France de 1989 a 2001. (état zéro du programme STOC).
Yeatman-Berthelot, 1991, Enquête Atlas
"Stock Dove Bird Facts | Columba Oenas". The RSPB. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
"Online Etymology Dictionary stock (n.1)"
"Roland Newkirk, paragraph 5" "Words to the Wise"
Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 114. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.

Liddell, Henry George & Robert Scott (1980). A Greek-English Lexicon (Abridged ed.). United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-910207-4.

Further reading

Cramp, Stanley; et al., eds. (1985). "Columba oenas Stock dove". Handbook of the Birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa. The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Volume IV: Terns to Woodpeckers. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 298–309. ISBN 978-0-19-857507-8.