Stock Dove - 1949

Columba aenas

Resident, chiefly on the coast.  Mathew mentions it at Picton Park and Tenby cliffs, and he believed it nested in the cliffs at St Davids (where Rock-Doves now breed).  It is thinly distributed as a breder throughout whole of county.  Possibly breeding Ramsey in a rabbit-burrow, 28 June 1927 (Bertram Lloyd)

R.M.Lockley, G.C.S.Ingram, H.M.Salmon, 1949, The Birds of Pembrokeshire, The West Wales Field Society

Stock Dove - 2003-07

The Stock Dove population of the UK was considered to be stable in the 1980’s, having recovered from a decline in the 1950’s and 1960’s caused by the effects of organo-chlorine seed dressings, used in arable farming, which were subsequently withdrawn. It is unlikely this had a big impact in Pembrokeshire which has long been dominated by pasture land. The chemicals did have an effect on Peregrines, the local population crashing in the 1950’s. Peregrines prey on many mobile birds, such as racing pigeons, which would have arrived in the county already affected, and the falcons being at the head of the food chain accumulated the chemicals with detrimental consequences. While the Peregrine population was low, Stock Doves expanded their range in the county, colonising the offshore islands from about 1975. However, as Peregrine numbers recovered, fewer Stock Doves nested on the islands and by the time of the 1984-88 survey had almost disappeared. They continued to nest on some of the mainland cliffs but the majority were thinly spread inland.

It was estimated that on average there were no more than two or three pairs per occupied tetrad, suggesting a county population of 300 – 500 pairs. The 2003-07 survey revealed a marked decrease in Stock Dove numbers, distribution contracting by 38%. This suggests that the Pembrokeshire breeding population lay in the range 180 -300 pairs by the end of 2007.

Graham Rees

 

Fieldwork 2003-07 (based on 490 tetrads)

Red = breeding confirmed = 11

Orange = breeding probable = 49

Yellow = breeding possible = 38

Total tetrads in which registered = 98 (20%)

Stock Dove - 1994

Breeding resident

Mathew (1894) mentioned Stock Doves breeding about the coast and at Picton Park, and also noted their absence around his home at Stone Hall. Lockley et al. (1949) considered the species to be thinly distributed throughout the whole of the county but chiefly a coastal breeder. Saunders (1976) recorded an increase during the

previous 15 years and noted the colonisation of Skomer in 1963. Skokholm was colonised from 1967 while Lloyd thought that they were breeding on Ramsey as far back as 1929. Numbers built up during the period when Peregrines were at a low ebb, with 62 pairs at Skokholm and about 50 pairs at Skomer by 1975. They began to decline as Peregrines increased and today there are none on Skokholm and Skomer and only two or three pairs on Ramsey. Stock Doves still breed about the mainland cliffs and in most parts of the interior of the county (see map). At an estimated average density of two to three pairs per tetrad the Pembrokeshire breeding population is between 300 and 500 pairs.

Nest sites include holes in cliffs and quarries, buildings and old trees, and the use of rabbit burrows has been suspected. Stock Doves can be inconspicuous in well-wooded areas but are detectable when they visit roadside verges to grit during the first hour after dawn. Small flocks of 20 to 30 gather at good food sources, particularly brassica seeds, and larger gatherings have been noted; for example, about 90 were at Llanreath on 3 March 1985 and about 200 at Llysyfran on 16 March 1986.

Fieldwork 1984-88 (based on 478 tetrads)

Red = breeding confirmed = 25

Orange = breeding probable = 45

Yellow = breeding possible = 87

Total tetrads in which registered = 157 (32.9%)

Donovan J.W. & Rees G.H (1994), Birds of Pembrokeshire

Stock Dove - 1970s breeding

Red = breeding confirmed

Orange = breeding probable

Yellow = breeding possible

Stock Dove - 1980s winter

The BTO winter atlas showed that Stock Doves were present in most 10km squares during the winters of 1981-82, 1982-82 and 1983-84.

The darker the colour, the higher the relative total count for each 10km square.  The darkest blue represents over 60 birds seen in a day.

Winter distribution was a little less widespread than in the breeding season but did involve some flocking.

Graham Rees 

Stock Dove - 1894

Species account from M Mathew, 1894, "The Birds of Pembrokeshire and its islands"

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