By Mariano Gómez · Updated on 8 October 2026

Birds

European Turtle Dove, the turtle dove of Europe and its decline

Streptopelia turturHear its song0:25

Photo gallery of the European Turtle Dove

Identification of the European Turtle Dove

The European Turtle Dove is a slender, light bird of delicate build. It has the back and shoulders orange and mottled with black, a collar of black and white stripes, the head and neck blue-grey, and the breast pink. In flight the dark flight feathers, a greyish wing band and the orange back stand out. The tail shows a characteristic pattern, with a black base and a broad white terminal band.

Adult

• Back and shoulders orange, mottled with black.
• Collar of black and white stripes; head and neck blue-grey; breast pink.
• Tail with black base and a broad white terminal band.

Habitat and distribution of the European Turtle Dove

It is found throughout Europe, central Asia (as far as northern and central China), the Arabian Peninsula and tropical Africa. Four subspecies are recognised; in Spain there are two: «turtur», in the Canaries and the Peninsula, and «arenicola», in the Balearics.

It is well distributed throughout the Peninsula, the Balearics, the Canaries, Ceuta and Melilla, although it is scarce or absent at the highest altitudes of the main mountain massifs (Cantabrian Range, Pyrenees, Iberian System…).

It is a species of open, warm environments and prefers habitat mosaics where pastures and crops alternate with wooded hedges, small woodlots, riverside woods or dehesas, always with watercourses nearby. It avoids territories above 1,000 metres in altitude. The highest densities are reached in the dehesa formations of Pyrenean oak and holm oak in the centre and west of the Peninsula and in the Atlantic farmland.

It is a long-distance migrant, a summer visitor throughout its European range, with wintering areas in tropical Africa, south of the Sahara. In Spain, the summer breeding population is joined by migrating birds from central and eastern Europe. Pre-breeding passage takes place between April and May, with a peak in early May; post-breeding passage flows mostly through the western half and is concentrated between August and October, peaking in the first half of September.

Etymology of the European Turtle Dove

According to Wikipedia, «Streptopelia» comes from the Ancient Greek «streptos» («collar») and «peleia» («dove»), and «turtur» is the Latin word for the turtle dove, an imitation of its song; the English «turtle» comes from there and has nothing to do with the reptile. It is also known as «tórtola europea»; in other languages it is «tórtora eurasiàtica» in Catalan, «rula común» in Galician, «usapal europarra» in Basque and «European turtle dove» in English¹.

Population of the European Turtle Dove

The 2021 European Red List of Birds estimates some 5.02–9.51 million European Turtle Doves across the continent, with a decreasing trend. The Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in Spain estimates about 1.4 million breeding individuals, above all in Castilla y León, Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Aragón, Extremadura and Galicia. The SACRE programme data suggest a decline of 37% between 1998 and 2018, sharper in the Eurosiberian region. The Spanish breeding population accounts for 73–77% of the birds that migrate along the western route, so the decline could have consequences on a continental scale.

The main threats are the destruction or alteration of the breeding habitat through agricultural intensification, that of the wintering habitat through droughts and overgrazing in Africa, and intense hunting pressure during autumn migration, in the «media veda» (the early-season hunt). It is proposed to protect the species legally in line with its threat category, to regulate hunting effectively, to promote field margins, waste ground and fallows and traditional forest management, to draw up recovery plans and to carry out censuses and studies¹.

Nest of the European Turtle Dove

It nests in trees and shrubs. The nest is a simple, fragile structure of interwoven twigs.

Courtship and breeding of the European Turtle Dove

The breeding season runs from May to early August, and it can lay two or three clutches a year. The clutch consists of one or two white eggs incubated by both parents for 13–19 days. The chicks stay in the nest, cared for by both parents, and fledge at 20 days.

Diet of the European Turtle Dove

It is a seed-eating bird. It feeds mainly on cereal and herbaceous plant seeds, and also on fruits.

Curious facts about the European Turtle Dove

In 2015 SEO/BirdLife named it Bird of the Year to draw attention to its decline. According to EURING, the ringed bird that lived longest, in the Netherlands, reached 13 years and 2 months; AnAge gives 13.2 years.

The European Turtle Dove in Cabañeros

The habitat pages of this website do not mention it. GBIF.org records 159 observations of the European Turtle Dove in Cabañeros and its surroundings.

Where to see the European Turtle Dove in Cabañeros

In Cabañeros and its surroundings, from March to November.

When

From March to November: pre-breeding passage is between April and May and post-breeding passage between August and October.

What time

In good light, in dehesas and mosaics of pastures, crops and wooded hedges, always near water.

Where

On high branches, wires and the ground, where it looks for seeds.

What to look for

Look for the mottled orange back, the striped collar and the tail with the white band, and listen for its purr.

Videos of the European Turtle Dove

Similar species to the European Turtle Dove

Eurasian Collared Dove

Streptopelia decaocto

How to tell them apart

It is similar in physical appearance¹. The Collared Dove, slightly bigger, is pale buff in tone, with a thin black collar.

Photo: Andreas Trepte, CC BY-SA 2.5

Other birds

Bibliography

• Jiménez García-Herrera, José. (2017). Aves de Cabañeros y su entorno. Madrid, Spain: Ecohábitat.
• SEO Birdlife - Sociedad Española de Ornitología
• https://es.wikipedia.org/
• Hume, Rob. (2016). Guía de campo de las Aves de España y Europa. Barcelona, Spain: Ediciones Omega