Turtledoves are the symbol of love. And rightly so, because when you see a couple of lovebirds sitting side by side on a tree branch, ‘love’ is the first thing that comes to your mind. It is almost touching to see how the two birds in love are kissing each other on their heads and necks. The Collared Dove is a well-known and common species of turtle doves. A bird that you often hear and see around your house, but which you probably know little about.
Name
- Latin: Streptopelia Decaocto
- Engels: Eurasian Collared Dove
- Duits: collared pigeon
- Frans: Eurasian collared dove
- Englisch: Turkish turtle dove
- Italiaans: Turtledove with oriental collar
Taxonomic classification
- Empire: Animalia (animals)
- Stam: Chordata (chordadieren)
- Class: Aves (birds)
- Order: Columbiformes (pigeons)
- Family: Columbidae (pigeons and turtle doves)
- Genus: Streptopelia
Number of
The number of breeding pairs in the cool weather areas is 50,000 to 100,000. Since the 1980s there has been a drastic decline in Collared Doves (halving in half), but the increase and decrease are now constant again.
Appearance
The Collared Dove is small, slender, and has a long tail, which gives it a certain elegance. It is a lot smaller in size than the Wood Pigeon and is about 31 to 34 centimeters long. The wingspan is 63-70 cm and the weight is 170-240 grams.
The plumage is gray and brownish in color, and the breast is pinkish and pale yellow. The underside of the tail is black with a broad white terminal band. The Collared Dove has a narrow white with a black stripe on the neck. He is not right from birth, so in this way, an adult can be distinguished from a young one.
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The bill is narrow and pointed, and the eyes are reddish-brown in color. In this bird species, the difference between the cock, the male, and the hen, the female, is difficult to see. The cock has a slightly coarser build, stands a bit higher on the legs, and has more shine on his feathers. The hen is somewhat smaller in stature, and has a duller color and a wider pelvis.
History and geography
The Turkish turtle dove has been in the words since the middle of the 20th century. Its original habitat ranges from Southeastern Europe (the Balkans) to Japan. Now the Collared Dove is found almost throughout Europe.
It even breeds north of the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia. The Turkish turtle dove also lives in America; it was first spotted in the Bahamas in the 1970s and then spread to Florida. His largest stronghold is on the Gulf Coast of the United States, but he is also in California, British Columbia, and the Great Lakes on the border between the United States and Canada.
This bird is common among people and likes to live in towns and villages, where it can find plenty of food. Flour factories and places where chickens are kept are particularly popular with him.
Food
The Collared Dove mainly eats grains and seeds, which are its main foods. In addition, he occasionally eats leaves, fruits, and beetles. Sometimes it also eats caterpillars, snails, and other small animals. In winter, the Collared Dove likes to visit feeding tables when grain, seeds, and bread are available. It often eats on the ground and is able to suck up water with its beak.
Nest and boy
The nest that the Collared Dove builds is very simple. It consists of intertwined twigs and is made by the female in a tree or on a building, while the male collects the material. It almost never happens that a nest is built more than 1 kilometer away from the habitation. The white, oval eggs are smooth and shiny and about 31 mm in size.
The female lays two eggs at a time. The brood frequently fails. It often happens that the nest with eggs and chicks is blown away because the nest is not strong enough. That’s why Collared Doves often re-nest and you can find them breeding every month.
In this way, the parents manage to get a number of youngsters to fly once a year. An egg is incubated between 14-and 18 days and the young can fledge after 15-19 days. Both parents are responsible for hatching the eggs and feeding the young. To protect their young, the parents chase jays, magpies, and even humans away from their nests. Young turtle doves are fed pigeon milk as food.
This is rich in proteins and fats and is produced in the crop. Both parents produce this for the first 4-5 days. As a result, the parents are not burdened with finding insects for their offspring and the breeding time can take a longer time. After a few days, the young move on to solid food, which the parents soak in their crop first.
Youngsters from January or February can start brooding themselves at the end of the same year. Young turtle doves are fed pigeon milk as food. This is rich in proteins and fats and is produced in the crop. Both parents produce this for the first 4-5 days. As a result, the parents are not burdened with finding insects for their offspring and the breeding time can take a longer time.
After a few days, the young move on to solid food, which the parents soak in their crop first. Youngsters from January or February can start brooding themselves at the end of the same year. Young turtle doves are fed pigeon milk as food.
This is rich in proteins and fats and is produced in the crop. Both parents produce this for the first 4-5 days. As a result, the parents are not burdened with finding insects for their offspring and the breeding time can take a longer time. After a few days, the young move on to solid food, which the parents soak in their crop first.
Youngsters from January or February can start brooding themselves at the end of the same year. what the parents first soak in their crop. Youngsters from January or February can start brooding themselves at the end of the same year. what the parents first soak in their crop. Youngsters from January or February can start brooding themselves at the end of the same year.
Flight
It regularly happens that birds mistake the Collared Dove for an enemy and sound the alarm; in flight, the silhouette of this pigeon may resemble that of the sparrowhawk, as the tail is very large in relation to the body.
The Collared Dove has an active flight with broad wings, keeping the tail folded during normal flight. When a male wants to make an impression, the tail is spread out and resembles a kind of fan. The cocks often spread their tail to charm the hens.
First, they fly loudly with their wings flapping steeply into the air, then they make a long soaring flight and land on a roof or in a tree. This is called the courtship flight. On the ground they have a second tactic: cocks jump about a meter into the air and flap their wings while calling to the female. A Collared Dove can reach a flight speed of 61 km/h.
Sound
The Collared Dove makes a monotonous sound that sounds like “cow-cow, cow” and is repeated several times. It is very similar in hearing to the Greek word ‘decaocto’, which means eighteen, and this is where the bird owes its Latin name. People often confuse the sound of the Collared Dove with that of the Cuckoo. When a Collared Dove lands, it often makes a loud, rasping noise that lasts only a few seconds. This sounds like a ‘whur whur’.
enemies
A great enemy of the Collared Dove is the Sparrowhawk, a small, fast bird of prey. Cats are also a threat to him. Young has the chance to be grabbed from the nest by an owl or other birds of prey.
captivity
Collared Doves can be easily kept in captivity. Special turtle dove food is sold, but a parakeet mixture is also sufficient. It is important that the food that is given is varied and that the bird can meet all its needs.
Extra protein grain, green food, ant eggs, and mealworms are an example of this. In addition, the Collared Dove must have access to fresh drinking water, minerals, grit, and a pick stone. The pigeons can use a half-open nest box to build a nest and even incubate the eggs of other species.
