I feel privileged to be able to tell you about the stock doves (often referred to as stock pigeons) that regularly visit our Bampton garden and I frequently rise early and carefully part the curtains to reveal up to seven of these rather shy birds feeding on the lawn.

They can be identified from the iridescent neck colours and the black bars on the wing (see photograph). Unlike other family members that nest on a fairly flimsy platform of twigs, they nest in cavities, mainly in trees or barns and occasionally in rabbit burrows.

Most of our gardens are nowadays host to the collared dove, a bird with a remarkable recent history of extending its range to many parts of the world, including Britain, where it was first recorded as a breeding bird as recently as 1955 and is now almost everywhere.

The descriptive name is immediately apparent as it has a black line round part of the neck, differing from the wood pigeon, sometimes known as ring-necked dove, which has a white collar partially round its neck.

It thrives under modern farming conditions, despite many being slaughtered every year as farmers attempt to limit the extensive crop damage for which they are held responsible.

The turtle dove has a purring call, making it easy to identify by sound alone from the coo-like calls of its cousins. This delightful bird is the only non-resident of the family. Wintering south of the Sahara, this smallest of our pigeons/doves continues to suffer great hardship and pointless persecution from the attentions of thoughtless continental gunners, resulting in this bird struggling to hang on to its once common status, and we are seeing fewer and fewer turtle doves gracing our woodlands with their beauty and magical summer call.

Pigeons and doves feed their young, known as squabs, by regurgitating a secretion from the lining of the crop known commonly as pigeon’s milk, a mixture the squabs thrive on.

They also have a unique ability in the bird world of being able to suck liquid from below the horizontal when taking a drink, rather than the usual avian practice of throwing the head back to facilitate swallowing.

Our society and our county recorder is interested to hear of sightings of both turtle dove and stock dove and you can let us know by emailing recorder@oos.org.uk Barry Hudson Oxford Ornithological Society