Eurasian collared dove

Description

The eurasian collared dove is 31 to 33 cm in length and thus about the same size as the feral dove. However, it is lighter and longer-tailed, making it appear slimmer and more delicate. Its wingspan is 47 to 55 cm; it weighs 150 to 200 grams. The plumage is uniformly light beige-brown, the wing tips are slightly darker, the head and underparts are slightly lighter. The reddish eye has a narrow white eye ring. The most striking feature is a deep black nape stripe in the adult plumage, which is additionally framed by a narrow white stripe. The sexes are alike.

Eurasian collared doves are synanthropic birds. They originate from Asia, but as they found an increasingly better food supply in more northern areas of Europe through agricultural and domestic waste, they expanded their habitat over the whole of Europe in the course of the 20th century. In the meantime, they are advancing further to the north-east. Their expansion in the middle of the 20th century could be observed and recorded in detail. They have now established themselves as resident birds and live in parks and gardens, always close to settlements, preferably in quiet residential areas where there are a few conifers. They need the latter, as they prefer to breed in conifers. They are not very shy.

The text is a translation of an excerpt from Wikipedia (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Türkentaube). On wikipedia the text is available under a „Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike“ licence. Status: 14 December 2021