turtle dove

Streptopelia turtur

Facts

Why not download our turtle dove fact sheet?

turtle dove fact sheet

• 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. Return migration begins in late August and peaks in September

Fabulous turtle dove facts

• The only migratory dove in Europe
  
  
• Turtle doves winter in west Africa, gathering in massive roosts of up to 1 million birds. They are remarkably tolerant of heat, having been observed foraging in temperatures of 45°C
  
  
• They are monogamous, and pair for life
  
  
• A clutch of two white eggs is laid, mostly in May and June, in a flimsy nest of twigs well hidden in scrub or thorny hedgerows. The male bird helps the female to incubate them
  
  
• They feed on the seeds of cereals and weeds
  
  
• Turtle doves are shot in huge numbers on migration in countries bordering the Mediterranean. It is estimated that as many as 2 – 4 million are shot and trapped as they pass through Europe