Blogger: Adam Murray, Communications Officer
TURTLE DOVE FACT FILE:
Description: The gentle cat-like purr of the turtle dove is an evocative sound of summer, but has become increasingly rare following rapid and sustained population declines. The species is now included on the Red List of conservation concern.
Where to see them: It is mainly a bird of southern and eastern England, although it does reach as far as Wales. Best looked for in woodland edges, hedgerows and open land with scattered bushes.
When to see them: Arrives in late April and May, leaving again between July and September.
Movement and migrations: A migrant that leaves Britain between July and September will pass through North Africa in large numbers in September and October wintering in areas such as Burkina Faso. The return migration starts in February and March and it reoccupies its breeding territories in Britain in May.
Habitat: Breeds where there are open woods, copses and tall, thick hedges on farmland, commons and in parkland. Feeds on the ground in fields or other cultivated areas. In winter in Africa, it lives in agricultural areas where there are tall trees.
Estimated UK numbers: 44,000 pairs breeding annually, but this is still declining
The national decline
The purring song of the turtle dove is disappearing at a faster rate than any other farmland bird
Turtle doves are now the UK’s most threatened farmland bird, according to official figures released in November this year.
The migratory birds, which rely on seed-rich wildflowers and weeds in our countryside, have an important place in British folklore and feature in the traditional Christmas song the 12 Days of Christmas.
According to the figures turtle dove populations fell 21 percent between 2009 and 2010 (more striking still it declined by 51.9% between 2004 and 2009 (that just 5 years and half of them have vanished!) Numbers have been falling since the 1970s, and it is now estimated there are only seven turtle doves for every 100 there were in 1970; a decline even greater than other struggling farmland species such as tree sparrows and corn buntings.
Urgent work is underway to investigate the cause of turtle dove declines and create measures to help them. The RSPB is in the middle of a three year project working with farmers to test trial plots of seed rich plants and monitor nearby turtle dove populations.
The overall indicator for all farmland birds has fallen again, meaning farmland bird species are at their lowest levels since records began in 1970 (see note 1).
As well as turtle doves, other farmland species whose decline are causing concern for conservationists include familiar farmland birds such as yellowhammers, yellow wagtails and skylarks.
The figures released today show that farmland birds are at 50 percent of the level they were at in 1970. Grey partridges, tree sparrows and corn buntings are all at similar low levels to turtle doves although the doves’ current rate of decline is steeper.
The regional decline
The East of England holds 47% of the UK breeding population with the possibility of still finding them along the North Norfolk coast, Brecks, Broads and coastal Suffolk and Essex from May leaving as early as July on their perilous journey back to their wintering grounds. Given the parlous state of turtle dove populations it is conceivable that it will be lost as a breeding bird in the region within ten years if the current rate of population decline continues.
So rather than ‘2 Turtle Doves’ in the 12 days of Christmas we should now be singing ‘0.14 Turtle Doves’ or even, in the future, ‘no turtle doves’.
Photo Credit: Andy Thompson