I watched a small group of Stock Dove today on the edge of Halldale Wood. Two birds, sometimes three, repeatedly flew in the air with what I assume was the male (in several photos you can see that the upper bird has a puffed out chest, usually associated with a displaying male) chasing the female and flying very close and sometimes coming in to contact as they flew.
This behaviour was first described as 'driving' by Derek Goodwin in 1956 in an article in the BTO journal Bird Study. He described the behaviour as the male 'driving' the female away from other males and said it took place both on the ground and in these short flights and occurred shortly before egg laying.
Stock Dove male upper chasing female |
Male Stock Dove attempting to mate with female at the end of a 'driving' flight |
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