Collared Dove
Collared Doves are distinctive birds with their buffy-pink plumage and black neck collar. They are usually seen singly or in pairs, although flocks may form where food is plentiful. They feed on the ground but readily perch on roofs and wires and in trees.
The Collared Dove is not migratory but it is strongly dispersive. Over the last century, it has been one of the great colonisers of the bird world. Its original range at the end of the 19th century was warm temperate and subtropical Asia from Turkey east to south China and south through India to Sri Lanka. In 1838 it was reported in Bulgaria but not until the 20th century did it expand across Europe, appearing in parts of the Balkans between 1900 and 1920 and then spreading rapidly north west, reaching Germany in 1945, the UK in 1953, Ireland in 1959 and the Faroe Islands in the early 1970s. Subsequent spread was “sideways” from this fast north west spread reaching north east to north of the Arctic Circle in Norway, east to the Ural Mountains in Russia and south west to the Canary Islands and north Africa from Morocco to Egypt by the end of the 20th century. In the east of its range it has also spread north east to most of central and north China and locally (probably introduced) in Japan. It has also reached Iceland as a vagrant but has not colonised successfully there.
Date: 7th June 2020
Location: Laindon, Essex
The Collared Dove is not migratory but it is strongly dispersive. Over the last century, it has been one of the great colonisers of the bird world. Its original range at the end of the 19th century was warm temperate and subtropical Asia from Turkey east to south China and south through India to Sri Lanka. In 1838 it was reported in Bulgaria but not until the 20th century did it expand across Europe, appearing in parts of the Balkans between 1900 and 1920 and then spreading rapidly north west, reaching Germany in 1945, the UK in 1953, Ireland in 1959 and the Faroe Islands in the early 1970s. Subsequent spread was “sideways” from this fast north west spread reaching north east to north of the Arctic Circle in Norway, east to the Ural Mountains in Russia and south west to the Canary Islands and north Africa from Morocco to Egypt by the end of the 20th century. In the east of its range it has also spread north east to most of central and north China and locally (probably introduced) in Japan. It has also reached Iceland as a vagrant but has not colonised successfully there.
Date: 7th June 2020
Location: Laindon, Essex
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Also in: Pigeons and doves
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