Woodpigeon Nesting: When and Where They Nest, Eggs and Young

Everything about Woodpigeon nests in the UK: when and where they nest, the nest itself, eggs, chicks and young, broods, predators and the law. For the bird itself, see Woodpigeon identification and facts.

Late, and for a long time: mostly from late April into September. In British nest records the first clutch is laid on average on 30 April, but anywhere from 22 February to 20 August.¹ Woodpigeons then keep going: the BTO's Nest Record Scheme reminds its volunteers that Woodpigeons nest mainly later in the year, some starting second or third nests in July and August and still busy into September.²

In data compiled by R. K. Murton in the 1960s, mostly from the 1950s, only 15% of clutches were complete before June, and laying peaked in July and August.³ The season has moved more than once: the BTO notes that it first came earlier as farmers switched to autumn-sown cereals, but newer data put the average Woodpigeon nest almost three weeks later than in the 1960s. They can be found nesting in any month, but the peak is in the summer.¹

In trees, usually in a fork or on a branch, or in creepers growing up a tree.⁴ In London parks Cramp found many in hawthorns, whose dense twigs gave cover from crows, below about 15 feet; in plane trees they were much higher. Rarely, Woodpigeons nest on the ground in thick cover or under a hedge, and even on buildings: one central-London pair had a favourite site on a fire escape.⁵⁴

Birds of the World gives a typical height of 1.5 to 2.5 m above the ground across the range.

A platform of twigs, 17 to 23 cm across, built of twigs up to 20 cm long and lined with finer twigs, grass and leaves. Nests get bulkier when they are used again.

Choosing the site is a joint affair. The male crouches at possible sites, pecking downwards and giving a deep double coo, and the female joins him there; Cramp thought she makes the final choice. See Woodpigeon courtship.

Sometimes. A nest may be used two or three times in a year, but more often a new one is built, and in Cramp's London study most trees seemed to have only a few sites that Woodpigeons found suitable. He noticed some highly unusual sites being chosen year after year, which suggested to him that at least one bird of the pair already knew the territory.⁵

Usually 2, sometimes 1 or 3. The eggs are white, about 41 by 29 mm and 18.9 g.

Both parents incubate, for about 17 days, starting with the first egg. They take shifts: in one study the male sat from about 10.00 to 17.00 and the female for the rest of the day and night.⁶

Like all pigeons and doves, Woodpigeons feed their newly hatched chicks on "crop milk", made by cells lining the crop under the control of the hormone prolactin, and brought up into the chicks' bills.⁷

About four to five weeks. The BTO gives 33 to 34 days in British nests; Birds of the World gives 28 to 29 days, exceptionally up to 34.

Young Woodpigeons grow fast. Free-flying juveniles weighed by BTO ringers average about 400 g, against about 507 g for adults.¹ They still lack the adult's white neck patch, and their feathers have fawn or rusty edges.

One or two broods a year in British nests. Cramp wrote that a pair may make up to three nesting attempts in a season, and more if some fail. Murton found that very early nests can do particularly well, and that young raised in June and July survived worst.

In Murton's 1966 study, crows and their relatives took most of the eggs that were lost, above all from nests left unguarded. Woodpigeon numbers in London parks were lower where there were more crows (1978). In one wood near Newmarket studied from 1962 to 1983, pairs raised on average 2.8 young before the late 1960s and 1.8 after, because more eggs were taken by predators.⁸

Not as a rule. The Woodpigeon is not among the birds the BTO lists for nest boxes, though its relative the Stock Dove, which nests in holes, is.⁹ Woodpigeons build their own open nests in trees.

The nests of all wild birds are protected while in use or being built. In England and Wales it is an offence intentionally to take, damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird while it is in use or being built. In Scotland the offence also covers doing so recklessly, and interfering with the nest.¹⁰ In Northern Ireland it covers doing so intentionally or recklessly.¹¹ Woodpigeons are also listed on the general licences issued in each UK country for preventing serious damage, which in set circumstances let authorised people take or destroy their nests and eggs as well as the birds (see legal status). Woodpigeons nest from late winter well into September, so check trees and hedges before cutting.

1. BTO. Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus). BTO BirdFacts. Accessed 8 October 2026. Source
2. BTO. Nest Record Scheme: taking part. BTO. Accessed 8 October 2026. Source
3. Murton, R. K. (1966). Natural selection and the breeding seasons of the Stock Dove and Wood Pigeon. Bird Study 13(4): 311-327. doi:10.1080/00063656609476135
4. Baptista, L. F., Trail, P. W., Horblit, H. M., Boesman, P. F. D., Garcia, E., Perlman, Y. (2025). Common Wood-Pigeon (Columba palumbus), version 1.1. Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, E. de Juana and M. G. Smith, editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology. doi:10.2173/bow.cowpig1.01.1
5. Cramp, S. (1958). Territorial and other behaviour of the Woodpigeon. Bird Study 5(2): 55-66. doi:10.1080/00063655809475903
6. Murton, R. K., Isaacson, A. J. (1962). The functional basis of some behaviour in the Woodpigeon Columba palumbus. Ibis 104: 503-521. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1962.tb08683.x
7. Horseman, N. D., Buntin, J. D. (1995). Regulation of pigeon cropmilk secretion and parental behaviors by prolactin. Annual Review of Nutrition 15: 213-238. doi:10.1146/annurev.nu.15.070195.001241
8. Inglis, I. R., Isaacson, A. J., Thearle, R. J. P. (1994). Long term changes in the breeding biology of the Woodpigeon Columba palumbus in eastern England. Ecography 17(2): 182-188. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0587.1994.tb00092.x
9. BTO. Nest boxes for birds. BTO, Helping birds. Accessed 8 October 2026. Source
10. UK Parliament (1981). Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, section 1. Accessed 7 October 2026. Source
11. UK Government (1985). The Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985, Article 4. Accessed 8 October 2026. Source
12. Tomiałojć, L. (1978). The influence of predators on breeding Woodpigeons in London parks. Bird Study 25(1): 2-10. doi:10.1080/00063657809476568