Pigeon wad

The pigeon wad ( Columba oenas ) is a bird paneuropéen (as far as Occidental Asia) primarily present in Europe (and especially in the United Kingdom which shelters of them 1/3 of the European populations), which is in strong regression in certain countries, seems it because its habitat is also, like some of its sources of food in the zones of intensive agriculture.

He appreciates the hollows of the old trees, to nest. The retreat of the scrap-metal, the intensive exploitation of the Forêt S are unfavourable for him. It is in addition chassable in France.

It is especially present in the old forests when one left the dead trees there and hollow or of the senescent trees whose trunk or certain grosses branches is decayed. It can sometimes also nest in the careers, on cliffs, in the rocks, even in a rabbit burrow.

An experiment consisting in posing nesting boxes, in certain French forests, could slow down its regression.

Habitat

Forest mediums rich in old trees and spaces open to low vegetation.
Mediums of substitution : old parks, Scrap-metal, old women Hedge S sharp, old men Orchard S, Gone S wooded and sometimes downtown (Paris, Dijon or Lyon shelter wads nicheurs), always in lower part of 1500 m altitude.

Food

Sheets, seedlings, seeds collected on the ground.

Reproduction

It is a forest cavernicole nesting theoretically in the holes of the old trees.
Il was shown locally able to colonize rupestral sites, career S, even sometimes of the burrows of Lapin S

Migration

Its premarital Migration is more diffuse and more discrete than that of the Wood pigeon with which it is often confused. In France, critical country because of a collapse of the populations, it is partially sedentary. For the migrating ones, the migration starts around the February 15th (50% of the birds were observed on March 5th and 99% on April 4th). The period suggested by the report/ratio “ Ornis ” (2001) is the 3rd decade of February, goes back retained by the National observatory from the wildlife and her habitats like beginning of the premarital migration.

State of the populations

Not threatened in Europe, it has been in strong regression in France for at least 30 years, where it is " to supervise " , it because its habitat is also, and because of hunting seems; more than 50.000 pigeons wads would be killed by the hunters annually in France, only in south-west (for a manpower nichor estimated at 1000 to 10.000 couples for all France, by Yeatman in 1976). It is in strong decline in this country (- 57% in 1976) although regarded as not threatened at the European level (where it nevertheless is classified in appendix 2 of the Directive birds and in appendix III of the Convention of Bern) and whereas the number of wintering would be from 100.000 to 200.000 wads in France.
Les nicheurs seems to have disappeared from the South-west of the country. And less than 10% of manpower European nichor is represented there, whereas more than 10% of wintering there are present.
Une experiment consisting in posing Nesting box S, in certain forests has as an aim to slow down its regression there, but it does not profit in France from protection measure nor from moratorium for hunting.
Ses effective is however still important and in increase in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, and they are important and stable in Russia, Germany, Spain, Bélarus and Romania. Manpower were slightly reconstituted in Belgium, in Denmark and in Ireland. In Spain the populations migrating are declining good plus Net that the sedentary populations.

Threats

In addition to the retreat of the old hollow shafts and its forest habitats, in addition to the sometimes evoked pesticides, hunting is an important threat for this species which is more easily let delude and kill that the wood pigeon. In the south-west of France (area cash 110.000 hunters and approximately 15.000 palombières according to the ONC), the migration of autumn (of 1981 to 1993) counted 1,8% of wads compared to the woodpigeons but the wads constituted 3% to 20% of the shot down birds. 50.000 to 100.000 wads are killed annually with hunting (according to the ONC, 1986).

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