Sergey Dereliev

A long-distance migratory dove breeding from England and Wales to the Urals, Kazakhstan, the Middle East and N Africa, but absent from the N. The nominate subspecies occurs across Europe, ssp. arenicola from Morocco to Iran, maybe the Balearic islands; and ssp. rufescens in deserts in Libya and Egypt. Winters across the Sahel. Strongly declining for decades, with an almost 80% reduction in the European breeding populations over the last 40 years.

Season of assessment

B

Population trendDecreasing
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		5020000-9510000,6900000
Red List categoryVU
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for European Turtle Dove

These long-distance trans-Saharan migrants use three flyways, initially heading SW, S or SE to join a W, C or E flyway to Africa (encounters of Czech, Hungarian, British (Murton 1968), German and French breeding birds). The proportional usage of each flyway has been estimated by multinomial mark-recovery models (Marx et al. 2016), with most of the French, German and British birds on a W flyway, reaching Africa by Iberia; Czech birds a C route and Hungarian birds E, exposing them to hunting in Greece (migratory divide between the Czech Republic and Germany; Marx et al. 2016). Recent tracking studies confirm these flyways with longitudinal connectivity between breeding and wintering grounds (Eraud et al. 2013, Lormée et al. 2016), and migratory divides between W and E Germany and the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Tracking data revealed the use of multiple sites in winter (Schumm et al. 2021).

Recoveries by Condition for European Turtle Dove

Despite its long-term decline, the species is still hunted and most recoveries are of shot individuals. However, the development of demographic studies means that 45% of the recoveries have been of live birds since 1991. There was a peak in recoveries in the mid-1960s, then a continuous decline related to the similar decline in Turtle Dove numbers overall. The majority of recoveries of hunted Turtle Doves were in the 1960s and 1970s.

Annual Movements for European Turtle Dove

There is currenlty no evidence of strong connectivity between the wintering grounds in the Sahel and breeding regions, so it is possible that wintering Turtle Doves spread across the Sahel, whatever their origin, and that breeding populations across Europe are panmictic (mating is not structured; Calderón et al. 2016). The precise delimitation of migration divides is not yet totally clear, especially in the S regions, from France to the Balkans.

Connectivity by Month by Region for European Turtle Dove

The timing of migration is similar along all flyways. Birds are on the breeding grounds in Jun-Jul and in their S distribution ranges in Sep-Apr. S migration starts in Aug, with a peak in mid-Sep in S Europe. N migration continues into May. High numbers are hunted on passage in Sep, Apr and May, hence the timing of recoveries largely depends on hunting activities.

Frédéric Jiguet

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
Calderón, L., Campagna, L., Wilke, T. et al.2016 . Genomic evidence of demographic fluctuations and lack of genetic structure across flyways in a long distance migrant, the European turtle dove. BMC Ecol Evol 16 article no.: 237 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-016-0817-7)
Eraud, C., Rivière, M., Lormée, H., Fox, J.W., Ducamp, J.J. & Boutin, J.M.2013 . Migration routes and staging areas of trans-Saharan Turtle Doves appraised from light-level geolocators. PLoS ONE 8 article no.: e59396 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0059396)
Lormée, H., Boutin, J.-M., Pinaud, D., Bidault, H., Eraud, C.2016 . Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur migration routes and wintering areas revealed using satellite telemetry. Bird Study 63 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00063657.2016.1185086) : 425–429
Marx, M., Korner-Nievergelt, F., Quillfeldt, P.2016 . Analysis of Ring Recoveries of European Turtle Doves Streptopelia turtur — Flyways, Migration Timing and Origin Areas of Hunted Birds. Acta Ornithologica 51 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.3161/00016454AO2016.51.1.005) : 55–70
Murton, R.K.1968 . Breeding, migration and survival of Turtle Doves. British Birds 61: 193–212
Schumm, Y.R., Metzger, B., Neuling, E. et al.2021 . Year-round spatial distribution and migration phenology of a rapidly declining trans-Saharan migrant—evidence of winter movements and breeding site fidelity in European turtle doves. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 75 article no.: 152 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-021-03082-5)

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