Abstract
18 woodpigeons were reared. Weight gain was similar to that of wild-reared birds if they were collected from the nest at 5-11 days of age, but slower if they were collected later.
The woodpigeon (Columba palumbus) is an agricultural pest in Britain. As part of a field and laboratory study of pigeon-scaring methods, we have reared woodpigeons in captivity. There are very few reports on hand-rearing of woodpigeons in laboratory conditions. Colquhoun (1951) recorded the bodyweight of squabs (young pigeons) during laboratory rearing. These weights were much lower than those recorded by Murton, Isaacson & Westwood (1963) for birds of comparable age in field studies. Kenward & Sibly (1978) also reported the hand-rearing of woodpigeons. The present paper deals with the methods of rearing and with weight gain in the laboratory.