Turtle dove
20 December 2010
The turtle dove is our fastest declining farmland bird – breeding numbers have fallen by a staggering 70% since the mid-1990s. The bird is a summer migrant that feeds exclusively on seeds. The decline is strongly linked to the intensification of farming in this country and, possibly, to illegal hunting on mainland Europe .
Turtle dove © David King
Latin name: Streptopelia turtur
Population numbers:
In 2000, the English breeding population was estimated to be around 44,000 pairs although, given recent trends, there are likely to be significantly fewer today.
Where to see and when:
The turtle dove is a summer visitor to England, arriving from mid-April. Indeed, prior to its decline, its characteristic purring call was one of the most familiar sounds of the English countryside in late spring and early summer. The species is closely associated with lowland farmland, breeding in scrub, well-wooded hedgerows and woodland edges, and foraging in seed-rich arable and grass fields. Birds leave the country from mid-August, and overwinter in sub-Saharan Africa.
What’s being done:
The plight of the turtle dove is typical of the problems faced by much of our farmland wildlife in recent decades. Field studies have showed that the loss of seed-rich habitats on farmland has resulted in the birds raising insufficient offspring to maintain the population. An ongoing research project by RSPB and Natural England is investigating ways of providing returning turtle doves with abundant seed supplies by sowing special flower strips in arable fields – if successful, such measures could be introduced as options within Environmental Stewardship.
More information:
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Native plants, fungi and animals we featured each week for the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity.
