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The UK Bird Atlas

Rock Dove (Columba livia)Where and when to see it in the UK

Resident · reporting peaks June to April · Doves and Pigeons · BOU category AC4E*F

Records to 2026-08-16 · build 2026-08-31

Rock Dove (Columba livia)
william_stephens, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Peak months
Rock Dove: relative reporting rate by 10 km square, September

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (grid squares, place names from OS Open Names). Northern Ireland place names: OSNI Open Data, OGL v3.0. County and country boundaries: Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. Coastline: Natural Earth. Bird records from the data partners listed here.

Rock Dove has been recorded in 2,552 of the 2,971 10 km squares covering UK land (86%) in records to 2026. Resident in the UK. Its strongest squares are in England, Scotland and Wales. Reporting peaks in June to April.

Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN Red List, LC)
View on the IUCN Red List
Relative to this species' best squares (how classes are calculated)
Very high
34% or more of visits
High
17% to 34%
Moderate
8% to 17%
Low
under 8%
Surveyed, not recorded
at least 20 qualifying visits, no record
Insufficient records
too few visits to say
Lighter fill
Few visits, lower confidence
Small dot
Occasional: a single record, or out of season

Seasonality

Reporting rate by month, relative to the peak month
MonthRelative to peakShare of visitsTypical class
January 91%24%Very high
February 93%24%Very high
March 93%24%Very high
April 88%23%Very high
May 83%22%Low
June 89%23%Very high
July 97%25%Very high
August 98%26%Very high
September 100%26%Very high
October 95%25%Very high
November 96%25%Very high
December 97%25%Very high

Squares with the highest reporting rate in January

SquareWhereShare of visitsClass
C92Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
D04Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
HT93Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high
HY21Orkney Islands, Scotland100%Very high
HY30Orkney Islands, Scotland100%Very high
NB54Na h-Eileanan Siar, Scotland100%Very high
NB56Na h-Eileanan Siar, Scotland100%Very high
NC14Highland, Scotland100%Very high
NC44Highland, Scotland100%Very high
ND34Highland, Scotland100%Very high

Spotted an error in a square? Report it and it goes into the review queue. Read the methodology for how classes, flags and sensitive-species rules work. Data to 2026.