Collared Dove
Collared Doves hadn't been recorded in Britain until 1952 in Lincolnshire, but that individual was thought to be an escapee from captivity at the time. Then a pair bred in Norfolk in 1955 and the sweeping colonisation had begun. By 1960 it was breeding in all countries of the British Isles. It had already swept across Europe from the Balkans during the previous 25 years but nobody knows why they spread like this. When the Wildlife and Countryside Act came into force in 1981 Collared Doves were so common that they were immediately classed as a pest species that could be killed. Quite a change in status from a bird that bred for the first time just 25 earlier. Then when the Birds Directive came into force it was decided that you could not kill birds simply because you thought they were a pest, they could only be killed for specific reasons, so a series of General Licences were introduced in the 1990s. So collared Doves could be killed by authorised persons to prevent serious damage to agriculture, and to preserve public health. But these licences have been misused and abused for years and millions of birds are killed for no good reason. You may have seen things in the media that "Wild Justice" have challenged the legality in the courts, and have won. The licences have been (temporarily) suspended to try and make them comply with UK law. Mark Avery is one of three founding members of Wild Justice (along with Chris Packham and Ruth Tingay) and he wrote this blog (and many subsequent ones) explaining the issue here: markavery.info/2019/03/17/44158/
The scientific name of Collared Dove is Streptopelia decaocto. Streptopelia means dove with a neck chain whereas decaocto means eighteen. This comes from a Greek myth about a maidservant who was bemoaning her unfair pay of just eighteen (decaocto) pieces. She prayed to the Gods for release and was changed into a dove that echoed her sad cry of decaocto. Although in one version Zeus created a dove who's cry "decaocto" proclaimed the lowly sum she was paid by her mistress.
I photographed this individual at one of the bird baths in my back garden yesterday. Their song is a repeated three note Cuck-cooo-coo, and I am occasionally sent recordings of them as claims of Cuckoo. "The Times" published the date of the first Cuckoo (does it still?) for over a hundred years but some of the very early dates I suspect are actually Collared Doves.
Collared Dove
Collared Doves hadn't been recorded in Britain until 1952 in Lincolnshire, but that individual was thought to be an escapee from captivity at the time. Then a pair bred in Norfolk in 1955 and the sweeping colonisation had begun. By 1960 it was breeding in all countries of the British Isles. It had already swept across Europe from the Balkans during the previous 25 years but nobody knows why they spread like this. When the Wildlife and Countryside Act came into force in 1981 Collared Doves were so common that they were immediately classed as a pest species that could be killed. Quite a change in status from a bird that bred for the first time just 25 earlier. Then when the Birds Directive came into force it was decided that you could not kill birds simply because you thought they were a pest, they could only be killed for specific reasons, so a series of General Licences were introduced in the 1990s. So collared Doves could be killed by authorised persons to prevent serious damage to agriculture, and to preserve public health. But these licences have been misused and abused for years and millions of birds are killed for no good reason. You may have seen things in the media that "Wild Justice" have challenged the legality in the courts, and have won. The licences have been (temporarily) suspended to try and make them comply with UK law. Mark Avery is one of three founding members of Wild Justice (along with Chris Packham and Ruth Tingay) and he wrote this blog (and many subsequent ones) explaining the issue here: markavery.info/2019/03/17/44158/
The scientific name of Collared Dove is Streptopelia decaocto. Streptopelia means dove with a neck chain whereas decaocto means eighteen. This comes from a Greek myth about a maidservant who was bemoaning her unfair pay of just eighteen (decaocto) pieces. She prayed to the Gods for release and was changed into a dove that echoed her sad cry of decaocto. Although in one version Zeus created a dove who's cry "decaocto" proclaimed the lowly sum she was paid by her mistress.
I photographed this individual at one of the bird baths in my back garden yesterday. Their song is a repeated three note Cuck-cooo-coo, and I am occasionally sent recordings of them as claims of Cuckoo. "The Times" published the date of the first Cuckoo (does it still?) for over a hundred years but some of the very early dates I suspect are actually Collared Doves.