European Turtle-Dove
Streptopelia turtur
Medium-sized dove with spotted wings, a distinctive striped neck patch and a bold white tip to the rounded tail. Found in wooded and semiopen habitats, especially farmland and heath with hedges and scattered trees. Usually rather shy; seen mainly in flight, but at times perched on utility wires. Feeds on ground, where it may associate with other pigeons. Appreciably smaller and slimmer than much commoner and overall paler Eurasian Collared-Dove. Extremely similar in plumage to Oriental Turtle-Dove, but has less extensive dark centers to the wing feathers and averages pinker on the breast.
Identification
Smaller and slighter in build than many other doves, it measures 26–28 cm (10–11 in) in length, 47–53 cm (19–21 in) in wingspan and weighs 100–156 g (3.5–5.5 oz). The European turtle dove may be recognised by its browner colour, and the black-and-white-striped patch on the side of its neck. The tail is notable as the bird flies from the observer; it is wedge shaped, with a dark centre and white borders and tips. When viewed from below, this pattern, owing to the white under-tail coverts obscuring the dark bases, is a blackish chevron on a white ground. This can be seen when the bird stoops to drink and raises its spread tail.<p>The mature bird has the head, neck, flanks, and rump blue grey, and the wings cinnamon, mottled with black. The breast is vinaceous, the abdomen and under tail coverts are white. The bill is black, the legs and eye rims are red. The black and white patch on the side of the neck is absent in the browner and duller juvenile bird, which also has the legs brown.
Taxonomy
The European turtle dove was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other pigeons in the genus Columba and coined the binomial name Columba turtur. The specific epithet turtur is the Latin word for a turtle dove. Linnaeus gave the locality as "India". This was an error and the type locality has been designated as England. The species is now placed in the genus Streptopelia that was introduced in 1855 by the French ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte.<p>Four subspecies are recognised:<p>Despite the identical spelling, the "turtle" of the name, derived from Middle English turtle (tortle, turtel, turtul), derived from Old English turtla (male turtle dove), turtle (female turtle dove), ultimately derived from Latin turtur, has no connection with the reptile; "turtle" in this case came originally from Latin turtur, which is onomatopoeic to represent the bird's song. The genus name Streptopelia is from Ancient Greek streptos meaning "collar" and peleia meaning "dove".<p>A few other doves in the genus Streptopelia are also commonly called "turtle doves":<p>A few other species from the related Nesoenas and Spilopelia genera, which were both formerly included in the genus, also possess common names containing the term 'turtle dove'.
- Scientific name
- Streptopelia turtur
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Order
- Columbiformes
- Family
- Columbidae
- Genus
- Streptopelia
Range and habitat
The turtle dove is a migratory species with a western Palearctic range covering most of Europe and the Middle East and including Turkey and north Africa, although it is rare in northern Scandinavia and Russia. It winters south of the Sahara. It is one of the latest migrants, rarely appearing in Northern Europe before the end of April and returning south again in September.<p>It is a bird of open rather than dense woodlands, and frequently feeds on the ground. It will occasionally nest in large gardens, but is usually extremely timid, probably due to the heavy hunting pressure it faces during migration. The flight is often described as arrowy, but is not remarkably swift.<p>The nuptial flight, high and circling, is like that of the common wood pigeon, but the undulations are less decided; it is accompanied by the whip-crack of the downward flicked wings. The arrival in spring is heralded by its cooing or purring song, a rather deep, vibrating "turrr, turrr".
- Breeding range
- PAL : w, c
- Non-breeding range
- AF
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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