Stock Dove

Columba oenas

Order: Columbiformes
Family: Columbidae
Presence in the Strait: Seasonal
Abundance: rare
IUCN (global): LC · Least concern
In Spanish: Paloma zurita

Photograph: Carles Pastor, CC BY-SA, vía iNaturalist

Length: 32–34 cm
Wingspan: 63–69 cm
Weight: 300 g

Presence in the Strait

Rare winter visitor. Its presence in the area has fallen sharply over the last decade.

Identification

Like a Woodpigeon but smaller and lacking white wing bands and neck patch, and, in contrast with a Rock Dove, shows only small black wing patches. In flight, dark-grey rump and underwing.

Movements

Peaks in 1st hf. April and 2nd hf. October.

Ring recoveries

Germany (1) and Switzerland (1). Columbidae Paloma Torcaz Paloma Bravía Paloma Zurita

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

23 %

Peak in December. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 22 March 2001
Latest record: 9 December 2024

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Not included
Spanish Catalogue: Not included
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: LC · Least concern · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Where they come from

2 birds ringed in other countries and recovered in the area.

Germany1
Switzerland1

See the journey on the map

Same genus in the Strait

Rock Dove31–34 cm · Resident · overlapping size
Common Wood Pigeon40–42 cm · Resident

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Columbiformes
Family: Columbidae
GBIF taxon key: 2495471

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Carles Pastor, CC BY-SA, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Stock Dove

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Ring recoveries

Gallery