Until relatively recently braces of woodpigeons would hang outside most butchers. Shot as an agricultural pest, they were rightly valued for their rich dark flesh. Indeed, along with rabbits they were one of the cheapest and easiest meats to acquire during the war. They were so popular that one poacher’s trick was to tie the legs of the young birds (squabs) to the branch beneath the nest with fishing line. The parents would fatten their young long beyond fledging until they were harvested, plump and tender.
More recently shooting and our taste for the birds has slumped while numbers have soared. This is actually mainly due to changing agriculture. The woodpigeon is best described as an ‘omnivorous vegetarian’ which allows it to adapt readily to changing conditions. So while larks, yellowhammers and partridges struggle with autumn-sown crops, woodpigeons have easily shifted from foraging on stubble to the tender shoots of oilseed rape. Later they rear their young on the calorie-rich seeds. Indeed, this is reflected by a clear shift to earlier clutches to cash in on the new harvesting season of June rather than September.
Woodpigeons construct crude nests in almost any type of shrub or tree, so there is no problem with breeding sites. They can breed in any month, but a typical pair will rear two or three clutches during the spring summer and early autumn, each of two squabs. The parents’ diet of grain and shoots is insufficiently nutritious, so instead the young are fed on ‘pigeon milk’ – actually a rich soup formed from the crop lining.
When it comes to eating, there is very little flesh on any pigeon, so plucking the whole bird seems unduly time-consuming. The best option is to fillet off the breasts with a sharp knife (pluck these first if you want the skin). In common with most wild meat, they lack fat, so either casserole or sear/bake/griddle quickly – and don’t be afraid to leave the flesh a little pink.
