DECLINING COLLARED DOVES

We used to have many collared doves around our farm, but recently numbers have more than halved. Is this remarkable?

No. Collared doves first nested in the UK in 1955 at Cromer. They reached Norfolk under their own steam. Within 10 years they were breeding in 36 counties in England.

No one has managed to explain why these sedentary doves expanded their range through Europe and colonised the British Isles so successfully, though genetic mutation, climate change and agricultural intensification have all been suggested.

The population continued to increase for 60 years, but in 2005 the first decline was noted and data from the BTO has shown the population has continued to fall by as much as a quarter since.

Collared doves remain abundant breeding birds throughout the country and their decline is not a cause for concern, but numbers are certainly well down on what they were at the turn of the century. Their declining population may well be linked to competition from rising numbers of woodpigeons. DT