Thanks to Sarah who commented on my blog a couple of days ago, telling me that my ‘pigeon’ is in fact a stock dove! The many varieties of domestic pigeons and wild pigeons commonly seen in cities are descended from the wild stock dove. Stock doves like to nest in holes in trees and rock faces and this one obviously couldn’t believe its luck when it discovered my posh kestrel residence!
I was reading up on these birds and was interested to discover that the squabs feed on a milky secretion from the lining of the adult’s crops called pigeon’s milk – which they take by thrusting their beaks into the adult’s throat. I have not been able to see these squabs very well until the camera changes to IR. I think there are two, possibly three, but I did see the adult going in and feeding them and there was a lot of flapping around going on!
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