Eurasian collared dove

Short Description

The collared dove is easily identifiable by its light-beige to brown plumage and the black half-collar around its nape. Its wing tips are dark. In flight, its white tail feathers are visible.

Juveniles lack the black collar or it is not very distinctive. Their tail feathers and primary feathers are matte and beige-brown.

Features

Eurasian collared dove

Streptopelia decaocto

black half-collar around the nape
red eyes

Rufe

Frommolt, CC BY-SA 3.0

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Similar species

European turtle dove

Streptopelia turtur

The turtle dove is darker and has a black-and-white-striped patch on the side of its neck. The wing covers and the scapular feathers are black with striking orange borders. Turtle doves are shy and often hide in trees.

Street pigeon

Columba livia domestica

The beige-brown variant of street pigeons can be mistaken for a collared dove. But it has shorter tail feathers and two darker wing bands can generally be made out. A white, fleshy, slightly bulging patch of bare skin (cere) covers about half of its bill.

In the city

Collared doves are true synanthropic birds (ecologically associated with humans) and live by preference in areas of human habitation. They require open spaces to look for food and prefer conifers for nesting and roosting. These habitats are predominantly found in parks.

Collared doves are not very shy and like to visit bird feeders, particularly in winter.

Fun Facts

Collared doves are one of the few species of doves that have spread throughout Europe without human input. They can be seen all year round.
100 years ago, there were no collared doves in Europe. Their geographic range extended from Japan to Turkey. Since then they have spread continuously, and by 2005 they colonised the entire continent of Europe.
The German name "Türkentaube" (“Turkish pigeon”) refers to its main distribution area a century ago, namely Turkey.
Endangerment level Germany: not endangered

Sources

Paar, Harald wehner, CC-BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2015-04-13-Tuerkentauben-Paar4.JPG

Paar, Rovdyr, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Streptopelia_decaocto%3B_Szczecin%2C_Poland_3.JPG

im Flug, Joefrei, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:T%C3%BCrkentaube_im_Flug_beim_Nestbau.jpg

Witt, K. & Steiof, K. (2013) Rote Liste und Liste der Brutvögel von Berlin, 3. version, 15.11.2013. : Berliner Ornithologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft e.V. (eds.) Berliner Ornithologischer Bericht, volume 23, Berlin: Berliner Ornithologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft e.V., 1-23.

Page „Türkentaube“. : Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Date of last revision: 26.01.2016, 14:50 UTC. URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=T%C3%BCrkentaube&oldid=150710251 (Accessed: 18.02.2016).

Artenfinder (2016) Streptopelia decaocto (Türkentaube), URL: https://arteninfo.net/elearning/voegel/speciesportrait/3017 (Accessed: 24.04.2016).

NABU – Naturschutzbund Deutschland e.V. (n.d.) Stunde der Wintervögel. Die Türkentaube, URL:https://www.nabu.de/tiere-und-pflanzen/aktionen-und-projekte/stunde-der-wintervoegel/vogelportraets/13059.html (Accessed: 24.04.2016).