European Turtle Dove
Streptopelia turtur
Field marks
Small, delicate dove with warm orange-brown, black-spotted upperparts, a black-and-white striped neck patch and a grey-vinous head and neck; black tail with a white edge.
Can be confused with
- Eurasian Collared Dove — Collared Dove is uniformly pale sandy-grey with a thin black half-collar and a longer tail — not the Turtle Dove's orange-brown scaly wings and striped neck patch.
Voice
A deep, monotonous, purring "turr-turr-turr".
Behaviour
Shy and retiring; keeps to open broadleaf woodland, scrub and hedgerows in farmland.
When and where
A scarce passage migrant and a rare breeder in Sønderjylland (70–90 pairs in 2015), declining; a summer visitor.
Relatives
Family
pigeons and doves
Columbidae
Order
pigeons and doves
Columbiformes
Community field marks
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