Eurasian Collared-Dove

Eurasian Collared-Dove

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

Introduced into the Bahamas in the mid-1970s, the Eurasian Collared-Dove is now established throughout the southeastern United States and has been seen across the continent. Its spread across North America is still an evolving story, and the extent of its final range and the impact it will have on other bird species remains to be seen.

Description

• Medium-sized bird; large dove.
• Sandy gray body and head with black half-collar on back of neck.
• Medium-long square tail.

• Size: 29-30 cm (11-12 in)
• Wingspan: 35 cm (14 in)
• Weight: 140-180 g (4.94-6.35 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Sound

Song a three-note "koo-KOO-kook." Makes growling call in flight.

Conservation Status

Populations increasing and spreading. May become an agricultural pest where it eats and fouls grain.

Other Names

Tourterelle turque (French)
Tórtola (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• The Eurasian Collared-Dove has spread rapidly across much of North America. It made a similar expansion across Europe in the 1900s. It is thought that the species occurred historically only in and around India, and that a massive expansion in the 1600s brought it into Turkey and the Balkans.

• The Eurasian Collared-Dove is often kept as a pet. The occurrence of the species in some areas of the United States can be traced not to the dispersal of wild breeders, but to escaped or released cage birds.

• The domesticated Ringed Turtle-Dove is similar to the Eurasian Collared-Dove, and it frequently escapes or is released from captivity. The occurrence of the first Eurasian Collared-Doves in the United States went unnoticed for quite a while because of confusion with feral Ringed Turtle-Doves. The two species occasionally hybridize in wild populations.

Sources used to construct this page:

Romagosa, C. M. 2002. Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto). In The Birds of North America, No. 630 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.