turtle dove

Streptopelia turtur

• Britain’s smallest dove, about 26cm long
   
• Back is a mix of black and brown, like a turtle’s shell
   
• Greyish cap and rump
   
• Pinkish breast
   
• Black and white barring on the neck 
   
• Easy to distinguish in flight due to narrow white tip at the end of the black tail
   
• It is fast-flying

The song is a distinctive soft purring, click on the recording below to listen:
 

Where found

In open, wooded farmland, in hedgerows and woodland edges mainly in the south and east of Britain.
 

When to look for

A summer visitor from March onwards.