Listen to the call of a woodpigeon

Robins and dunnocks have been usurped in the garden by woodpigeons which are now only outnumbered in Britain's gardens by blackbirds and blue tits.

Woodpigeons, with an estimated three million pairs, have continued to increase their garden populations thanks to a willingness of householders to put out seeds and other food.

They are now the third most common visitor to gardens with the dunnocks, last year's third-placed bird, falling to fifth and robins staying in fourth.

In the 1970s woodpigeons were a farmland species and they were a familiar sight as they descended in flocks to feast on stubble in the fields.

With changing farming practices the species shifted its attention to the nation's gardens where a wealth of food could be reached because of the increase in the number of people putting out seeds and other food for the birds.

In 1995 the woodpigeon didn't even make the top 10 of garden birds, being placed at number 11 when it was recorded in 66 per cent of gardens, but since then its rise has seemed unstoppable.

The bird is now seen in 85 per cent of gardens and ornithologists believe it may be only a matter of time before it takes over from blackbirds as the most common garden species.

Last year in London's urban gardens it overtook feral pigeons for the first time.

Dunnocks have suffered a slump and fell from third to fifth place but the robin population is thought to be stable and the popular bird has remained in fourth position in gardens for the last decade.

"Woodpigeons have crept up and up and up," said Paul Stancliffe of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), which released the figures as part of its Garden BirdWatch scheme. "They've had a meteoric rise.

"From the 1970s they found it harder to get enough to eat in the countryside. Over that same period people have increased the feed they put out on bird tables. Woodpigeons have taken advantage and moved into gardens."

He added: “Whether you love them or hate them, Woodpigeons are an increasingly common sight in our gardens and it might seem that you have little choice when it comes to them using your garden.

"This isn’t quite true - Woodpigeons come in search of seed and have a real preference for the type of seed mixes that are put out. Anything with a high cereal content will prove to be very attractive to them.”

Woodpigeons are the largest members of the pigeon and dove family in Britain. The other five types that breed in Britain are stock doves, rock doves, feral pigeons, collared dove and the struggling turtle doves.

The BTO Garden BirdWatch scheme is a national survey involving 16,500 volunteers, which provides data each week on which birds are present.

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