Turtle Dove

European Turtle Dove	Both Sexes Chestnut upperparts and pink breast and white belly.
Steptopelia turtur
Length: 25-27 cm (10-11")
Wing Span: 49-55 cm (19½-22")
Weight: 130-180 g (4½-6½ oz)
Breeding Pairs: 75 000
Present: Summer
Status: Red

Description

The Turtle Dove is smaller than a Collared Dove.

The head is blue-grey with a black and white patch on the side of the neck. The throat and breast are pale pink and the belly white. The wings and back have black and chestnut tortoiseshell-like markings, but this is not why it's called the Turtle Dove.

The yellow eye is surrounded by orange-coloured skin. The bill is black and the legs pink.

Juveniles are duller and browner, have no neck patch, and buff-coloured breast.

Voice

	Song
	Quicktime mp3

The Turtle Doves song is a soothing deep, cat-like purring, "turr-turr", and this gives the bird its name.

Feeding

Turtle Doves feed almost entirely on the fruits and seeds of wild flowers and cereals, such as buttercup and chickweed.

Nesting

Turtle Doves breed in open country with trees or scrub, or at the edge of woodland areas, parks and large gardens. Like the nests of most pigeons, the Turtle Dove's nest is a flimsy platform of fine twigs.

The white oval eggs are smooth and glossy, and about 30 mm by 23 mm in size. Both parents share the duty of incubating the eggs and feeding the nestlings.

Movements

The Turtle Dove is a summer visitor to mainly southern and eastern England, arriving in April-May, and returning to tropical Africa for the winter in July-August.

Conservation

From 1970 the Turtle Dove population has plummeted by nearly 80% and is a species of high conservation concern (Red List).

The cause of the decline is believed to be down to the birds not finding food and the loss of suitable nesting sites (e.g. overgrown hedges), but Turtle Dove is also one of the species that are shot in large numbers in and around the Mediterranean during their spring migration.

My Garden

Turtle Doves have not been seen or heard in my neighbourhood.