Transactions
of the Azov-Black Sea Ornithological Station

Language of the article: Russian Cite: Sakhvon, V. V. (2016). Development and current status of Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) urban populations in Belarus. Branta: Transactions of the Azov-Black Sea Ornithological Station, 19, 73-80 Keywords: Wood Pigeon, Columba palumbus, synurbization, distribution, urban birds Views: 921 Branta copyright

Branta Issues > Issue №19 (2016)

Branta: Transactions of the Azov-Black Sea Ornithological Station, 73-80

Development and current status of Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) urban populations in Belarus

V. V. Sakhvon

The paper discusses development, spatial distribution and current status of Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) urban populations in Belarus. The data were collected in 2012–2015 in most towns and cities of Belarus. The census of Wood Pigeons was carried out by a Finnish linear transect method covering the entire number of the most suitable habitats; an absolute birds census was carried in parks and public gardens. The first nesting cases of Wood Pigeons in an urban habitat were registered in the mid 1990s and occurred in the western regions of Belarus. Especially rapid colonization of the cities in an eastward direction was recorded in the end of the 2000s shifting the species distribution range 300 km to the east. Currently, the border of the range follows the line Grodno-Lida-Minsk-Borisov-Baranovichi-Zhitkovichi-Stolin. The hypothesis of colonization of Belarusian cities by Wood Pigeons from European urban populations is supported. Wood Pigeons prefer the alleys planted along roads and pedestrian areas as nesting sites in the urban habitat, probably due to a comparatively lower pressure from the predators.

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