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Eurasian Collared-Doves



Lynn and I just returned from 3 weeks in Denmark where we did a half 
culture/half birding trip. (We missed the main spring migration, but got 107 
species anyway, thank you!) I was impressed by the number of Eurasian 
Collared-Doves we saw. (They call them "Turkish" doves there - in Danish, of 
course.) We also saw the species during our few days in the Nottingham, 
England area on the way to Denmark. 

I'm noting this here because of the interest in the species in the Carolinas. 
It seems to be following the same pattern here in North America as it did in 
Europe.  Eurasian Collared-Doves reportedly expanded into Northern and 
Western Europe in the 1950s and now are quite common. Common in towns and 
around farms, that is, because it rarely is found in wild places. It seems to 
prefer the urban spaces occupied by another abundant species, humans.

Just think, before long you may be able to sit on a bench in the capital 
grounds in Raleigh or Columbia and add a fourth abundant bird species to your 
park list of feral pigeons (Rock Doves), House Sparrows, and Starlings.

Dennis Burnette
Greensboro, NC
burnetted@aol.com