Collered Dove
Parque, Playa de las Américas, Tenerife
What3Words
///fail.talents.occulted
The Eurasian Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) is a highly adaptable, medium-sized bird known for its rapid global expansion. Originally native to warmer regions of Asia, it has become a common sight in urban, suburban, and agricultural areas across Europe and North America.
Key Identification Features
Appearance:
They have a plump, sandy-gray or buff-colored body with a distinctive black half-collar on the nape of the neck.
Distinctive Tail:
Unlike the pointed tail of a Mourning Dove, the Eurasian collared dove has a broad, squared-off tail with large white patches at the corners.
Eyes and Bill:
Adults possess striking dark red eyes and a thin black bill.
Vocalizations:
Their primary call is a rhythmic, three-syllable coo (koo-KOO-kook) with the middle syllable emphasized. They also emit a harsh, nasal screeching sound just before landing.
Behavior and Diet
Diet:
These birds are primarily granivores, feeding on seeds, grains, and cereal crops, though they occasionally eat berries and small insects. They are frequent visitors to backyard bird feeders, where they often forage on the ground.
Territoriality:
They can be aggressive competitors at feeding stations, often chasing away smaller birds or native species like the Mourning Dove.
Flight Display:
Males perform a ritualized mating flight, flying nearly vertically before gliding down in a spiral with fanned tails.
Breeding and Life Cycle
Rapid Reproduction:
A monogamous pair can raise up to six broods per year in warmer climates.
Nesting:
They build simple, often flimsy platform nests made of twigs in trees, on buildings, or even on man-made structures like satellite dishes.
Parental Care:
Both parents share incubation duties and feed their young "crop milk," a nutrient-rich fluid secreted from their esophagus.
Global Colonization
The species is famous in ornithology for its "leapfrog" colonization style—new populations often spring up hundreds of miles away and eventually "backfill" the space in between. After being introduced to the Bahamas in the 1970s, they reached Florida by the 1980s and have since spread across most of the continental United States and into Canada.
Collered Dove
Parque, Playa de las Américas, Tenerife
What3Words
///fail.talents.occulted
The Eurasian Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) is a highly adaptable, medium-sized bird known for its rapid global expansion. Originally native to warmer regions of Asia, it has become a common sight in urban, suburban, and agricultural areas across Europe and North America.
Key Identification Features
Appearance:
They have a plump, sandy-gray or buff-colored body with a distinctive black half-collar on the nape of the neck.
Distinctive Tail:
Unlike the pointed tail of a Mourning Dove, the Eurasian collared dove has a broad, squared-off tail with large white patches at the corners.
Eyes and Bill:
Adults possess striking dark red eyes and a thin black bill.
Vocalizations:
Their primary call is a rhythmic, three-syllable coo (koo-KOO-kook) with the middle syllable emphasized. They also emit a harsh, nasal screeching sound just before landing.
Behavior and Diet
Diet:
These birds are primarily granivores, feeding on seeds, grains, and cereal crops, though they occasionally eat berries and small insects. They are frequent visitors to backyard bird feeders, where they often forage on the ground.
Territoriality:
They can be aggressive competitors at feeding stations, often chasing away smaller birds or native species like the Mourning Dove.
Flight Display:
Males perform a ritualized mating flight, flying nearly vertically before gliding down in a spiral with fanned tails.
Breeding and Life Cycle
Rapid Reproduction:
A monogamous pair can raise up to six broods per year in warmer climates.
Nesting:
They build simple, often flimsy platform nests made of twigs in trees, on buildings, or even on man-made structures like satellite dishes.
Parental Care:
Both parents share incubation duties and feed their young "crop milk," a nutrient-rich fluid secreted from their esophagus.
Global Colonization
The species is famous in ornithology for its "leapfrog" colonization style—new populations often spring up hundreds of miles away and eventually "backfill" the space in between. After being introduced to the Bahamas in the 1970s, they reached Florida by the 1980s and have since spread across most of the continental United States and into Canada.