"Malcolm" wrote in message
...

In article , DB01
writes
Hi
My wife wants to know how long do they live and how often they mate and
rear
their chicks each year

No-one seems to have answered your first point.

Only about a quarter of the chicks born in a summer will survive the
winter to breed in their first year. Then, roughly one-third will die each
year thereafter. This means that the expected life-span once the bird has
become an adult is only 3-4 years. However, ringing has shown that
individuals can live much longer than that, the record being about 16
years.

If the birds weren't shot, the mortality would go down and their
life-expectancy up.

Janet responded with information about "pigeons" rather than Woodpigeons,
by which I assume she means domesticated birds, descended from Rock Doves.
They are much more fecund than Woodpigeons which can, in theory, manage to
breed three times in a year, but this is rare, most have two clutches and
even then only a small proportion rear young from both broods. Predation
and shooting are the main causes of loss.

The Woodpigeon breeding cycle takes longer than Janet said, too, being
about 7-10 weeks, made up of 2-12 days to build the nest, 3 days to lay
two eggs, 17 days incubation and 20-34 days for the young to fledge, plus
at least another week before they are independent of their parents. The
very variable fledging period is thought to be related to disturbance
which can see the young leave quite prematurely.

--
Malcolm

Wow and thanx
I'm impressed with your depth of knowledge. My wife and I have just seen two
fledglings come out of their nest and be fed by one of its parents. then
lots of wing flapping.
Since I built a conservatory for my wife to sit in, she now watches the wild
life more that the TV.
I've bought books but when you need an answer to a specific point its a lot
easier to use this NG
Thanks to all who responded to my questions

Eugene