Eurasian Collared-Doves conquering America
No species of bird has colonized North America at the speed with which the Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) has marched across the continent. First found nesting just south of Miami, Florida, in 1982, this non-native dove has rapidly adapted to human-altered environments from Florida to Alaska. FeederWatch has provided a crucial source of information on this invasion and insight into how this invader may be affecting populations of native doves.
Eurasian Collared-Doves.
Researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology recently focused on reports submitted by444 FeederWatchers in Florida to better understand the collared-dove invasion. First, they were interested in examining the potential impact of collared-doves on other dove species such as the Mourning Dove, White-winged Dove, and Common Ground-Dove. Many invasive species have a negative impact on native species, particularly species that are similar to the invader. Contrary to expectations, however, researchers found that the abundance of native dove species was generally greater at sites with collared-doves than at sites without collared-doves.
Second, researchers were interested in identifying which types of habitats the collared-doves were using. Linking satellite-derived land cover data with FeederWatch data gathered from 1999 to 2008, the researchers found that collared-doves were more likely to occur in landscapes that had been highly-modified by human activity than in forested landscapes. Many invasive species are successful because, like the collared-dove, they can readily adapt to suburban life.
CLICK ON MAP to see an animation of the Eurasian Collared-Dove expansion, 2000-2009. Photo by Kevin Carver.
What’s next for the Eurasian Collared-Dove?
The species continues to spread across the continent and grow in abundance (click on map above to see an animation of the range expansion). The doves naturally disperse in a northwesterly direction, so the most rapid range expansion has taken place along a southeast-to-northwest path from Florida to Alaska. It appears to be only a matter of time, however, before the gaps in the species’ range in the Midwest and Northeast are colonized. FeederWatch staff will keep an eye on interactions between collared-doves and native species as the invasive species continues to colonize different regions and environments. We may ultimately find that collared-doves do compete for food with other dove species in colder regions in winter.
If you would like to contribute data on the spread of Eurasian Collared-Doves, please consider joining Project FeederWatch. The only way we can track the spread of this species is with data submitted by FeederWatch Participants – so sign up to contribute! Please note that commenting on this post with Eurasian Collared-Dove observations will NOT contribute to data!
Did you find a Eurasian Collared-Dove nest? Check out our post on monitoring Eurasian Collared-Dove nests!
Source: Bonter, D. N., B. Zuckerberg, and J. L. Dickinson. 2010. Invasive birds in a novel landscape: habitat associations and effects on established species. Ecography 33:494-502.
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I live in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina – Florence to be exact.
I have MANY of these birds visit my feeders. I was wondering where they came from!
Eurasian Collared-Doves are native to southern Asia. They were introduced in the Bahamas in the 1970s (escaped from the pet trade), and subsequently spread to south Florida. From Florida they are moving across all of North America. Eurasian Collared-Doves are very successful invaders. They conquered much of Europe since the 1950s and continue to expand their range in Europe as well.
I live on the northern Utah/Idaho border by Bear Lake. We saw Eurasian doves four years ago and their numbers have increased expodentially. The invade livestock feeding operations and have no problem eating whole kernnals of corn. Since the are invasive and not protected in Utah we hunt them during the winter. Hunting for mourning doves has been no existant in the area for the last 1
FINISH last 15 years but the Eurasians provide great sport and excellent eating. I believe they will eventually fill in the habitat left by the passenger pigeons extinction, They are able to persist in temperatures down to -20F.
Uh no…Completely different behavior. You obviously know nothing of the natural history of either of these birds. not even remotely the same as the passenger pigeon
“The doves naturally disperse in a northwesterly direction” — This is interesting. Why northwesterly? Since I live in Ohio, I’ve been wondering why they haven’t shown up here in significant numbers yet.
Weather and winter temperatures. Climate.
We observed these doves for the first time about ten years ago in what is known as the Willwood community, which is south of Powell, WY. The birds are now thriving there and elsewhere in the state year-round, almost always in the vicinity of towns having mature trees. Although our Feederwatch participant location is within one mile of Willwood, those doves seldom make an appearance at our farm. We believe the reason for this is the lack of sufficient mature trees at our location.
We watched the 1990 film Dancing with Wolves the other evening on TV. Interestingly, the dove that flushed out of that old military outpost building on that film-set looked suspiously like an Eurasion collared-dove. This is believed to have been filmed somewhere in the Dakotas. It was likely too difficult to legally obtain a native mourning dove for that sound-bite. Just another possibility!
We have a flock of about 25 that visit every morning just North of Cheyenne, WY. A few have use robin nests low in a pine tree in our back yard for the past few years. They appear to have a high fatality rate, mainly the hawks around our yard. Also, a high mortality on their eggs and young from poor nest construction.
JB, I would usually bemoan any report of a high mortality rate of any wildlife species, but this is the state of the nature that runs with the territory of birds, in general.
Several years ago I subscribed to Quail Unlimited’s new spin off of the Dove Hunters’ Wing, which later was changed to DOVE Sportsmens Society. The articles were very informative and reassuring. One was authored by a wildlife bioliogist whose intent was to rebut the mantra by an animal rights advocate whose proclamation was that “We should not be shooting that helpless dove: ‘a symbol of peace”. The article stated that the common Mourning Dove’s average life expectancy was nine (9) months; and the causes of the demise within that range of time were many, with the sportsman’s harvest ranking very, very low. I wish I could remember the exact statistics, but the article assured one that his daily bag limit would never impede or diminish the MD’s population growth!
He also assured the reader that the Mourning Dove was of no relation to the White Dove of the Middle East that fluttered about the crown of thorns of the beloved Lord and Saviour of the Christian faith, Jesus Christ. It was a shame that this activist saw it fitting to inject religion and spirituality to discourage the modern day recreational activities enjoyed by sportsmen in desparation to further his/her agenda. No other special interest group is any more conservation minded than the consciencious and educated modern day sportsman. We all remember the causes of the demise of the bison/buffalo, and a certain species of the pidgeon just a few decades ago. Kudos to the wildlife biologists in our developed and civilized country.
I read where certain residents complain of the excessive “poop” generated by the ECD’s. They have no right to complain, and should instead enjoy the healthful presence of their numbers which assures all of us that they are alive and doing well! The ranchers in Argentine, South America are the ones getting hammered by the excessive MD population, as the birds literally strip the grain fields of all seeds within hours, quickly starving the cattle herds and forcing the ranchers to an early sale thereby driving their markets downward in a tail spin. Sure, we all would love cheaper beef prices, but this is not good for any economy which needs to be balanced. Tis a triple edged sword, folks: an interdependent habitat with ours truly at the top of the food chain.
To these ends, the Argentinian government is begging for the American Sportsmen to visit its country for full days’ nonstop shooting with unplugged shotguns to help eradicate this bird, which was formally declared as a “pest and nuisance”.
Indeed, I likewise enjoy the cooing of all doves, and it is conveniently comforting to consider them as “symbols of peace”; but the peace they give me is to my palate and stomach.
These doves showed up about ten years ago in Wyoming, and are now all over the state, most always in and near towns with many mature trees.
Interestingly, the 1990 film Dances with Wolves, shows a dove flushing out of a building on the set that appears suspiciously like an Eurasion Collared-dove. It was likely too difficult to legally get a native Mourning dove for that sound-bite. Just another possibility!
Eurasian Collared-doves are able to withstand winter temperatures of well down into the 30s’ below zero in Minnesota. From their first record in 1996 they now inhabit most of the bottom half of the state with being further north in the western half. Total they have been found in over 60% 0f the counties in the state. As Mourning Doves have always been uncommon in the winter (although they are becoming more common in the winter) there is little interaction with the overwintering collared-doves. Flocks of more than 25 are found where ever a good food source is available, usually grain elevators and grain storage areas.
Casper Wy I have seven of them living in my trees. They are a very passive bird. Almost tame as a bunch of chickens and they seem to handle our cold winter very well.
We harvest Eurasian doves in the fall. This past fall we noticed two of the birds appeared to be hybridized with mourning doves showing features of both. Has this been documented elsewhere?
I came across one reference to hybridization between a Eurasian Collared-Dove and a Mourning Dove in captivity. It certainly is not common, and I can’t find any information about whether or not the young were fertile.
I have a picture of one cross breed if you are interested in it. It came to my feeders for one summer and did mate but don’t know if it ever took.
I have also seen hybrids. The literature states that ECD hybridized with passenger pigeons but the young were sterile.
I watch this one one summer and he had a mate. He did the mating dance and later that summer the pair cane to the feeders with two small ones but as we know that doesn’t mean anything, I suppose even birds get help from time to time. I love the mating dance and was real surprised that .like the morning dove only the male makes the call. The ECD do it the same way morning doves do it by blowing up a pocket on their neck and exhaling the air. Like the morning doves they also do a little dance for the female after they do it.
I have a flock of homing pigeons, and we see lots of ECDs coming in daily to feed and bathe alongside our homers. Yesterday I saw what certainly looked like a fully grown pigeon/ECD hybrid. I was not able to get a photo, and I am now keeping one eye on the backyard in case that odd bird returns. Has anyone heard of this hybridizing happening in the wild? It is a disturbing thought to me.
I reported a lone Eurasian white collared dove last winter at our bird feeder here in St. Catharines ON. Have seen it only once again this winter doing well in a flock of mourning doves. On your map our location is covered by the picture of the dove so I cannot dtermine if there have been other sightings in our area.
To date, there have only been a handful of sightings in the northeastern US and southeastern Canada. The birds tend to disperse to the northwest. But it is only a matter of time before the species becomes common across North America.
I reside in West Central Montana, in semi-arid Prickly Pear Valley, just under the Divide on the East side, a formerly predominently agricultural area, now with much human habitation, and many large deciduous and coniferous trees. About 3 years ago I sighted the first Collared Eurasian Dove here, in an area then populated by many Mourning Doves. I have not seen, nor heard, a Mourning Dove for over a year. I have many feeders on the property, and this winter have had a flock of about 20 to 25 Collareds visiting and consuming whole kernel corn morning and evening.
The corn was meant for Fox Squirrels, an invasive species, having driven off the G ray Squirrels here a number of years ago, so I now have the unenviable situation of feeding an invasive species feed meant for another invasive species consumption. Ah yes, I guess it verifies the proposition that the tree of creation is never quiet: relocation of creation.
I live in Salem, Oregon. In the last few months I have had up to 12 Eurasian Collared-doves AT THE SAME TIME feeding on my back deck. They are easily spooked, but do eat the bird food that has fallen from the feeders.
On Tuesday April 5,2011, while mowing the backyard, I came across 2 baby Eurasian Dove in the corner nesting on the ground in creeping red fescue grass. The parents are keeping an eye on them and feeding them. I first noticed these dove in 2008. I live in the Panhandle of Texas. we have a lot grain, wheat, in the area as well as mature trees.
We live in Northwestern BC and I have seen these birds for the first time this spring. They are very gentle and co-exist with our native species very well. After the resident crows that number in the hundreds,and terrorize every other bird in the area, destroyed their nest, I think that I prefer the new allien. Although I respect the intelligence of crows and would hate to loose their presence, this area has created an abundance of human refuse in garbage dumps that gives crows a food source that most birds can not take advantage of. I think that “invasive species” is another term for evolution and we need to accept.
Waterville, Washington (North Central) rural, high plateau…November 2010 was my first sighting of the EC Doves at my feeder station. There were 4. Since then their numbers have increased. Now they can be seen and heard in every neighborhood. Traditionally, Mourning Doves nested here but I have not seen them this spring.
I am at 7000 foot elevation in North Central New Mexico, in pinon juniper forest. They’re heeere!
We live in Philomath, OR on the west side of the Willamette Valley (44.544667,-123.377366). We have lived here for about 17 years and in the last week we began hearing a dove call that we did not recognize. As of yesterday we have confirmed that we have at least 3 Eurasian Collared Doves using the area around our house. We have some concern about their presence because we have Mourning Doves and Band-tailed Pigeons in the area. Lets hope the Lab’s conclusion is correct that they won’t compete with our native species, or hybridize.
A year ago a mysterious mega dove showed up at our feeder. This year we have a pair. Next year??? We have been wondering what kind of dove we were seeing. They are very shy and do not interfere with the mourning doves.
Carol Munoz, San Diego
I am a softball coach in Mid-San Diego softball fields. The Eurasion Doves are all over the place. Never seen them before and I have been at the fields since 2000. They do not seem to bother the native doves and they fly very slowly unlike the native doves.
Last fall I amsure we shot some hybridized (mouring doves) birds. Where is the “lab” so I cans send samples?
One of these summered in my back yard/alley area last year – Kenyon, Minnesota.
I stumbled upon this website in search of more info a white Eurasion Collard-Dove that has been living near our house for several weeks. My husband kept telling me I was seeing a pigeon, but tonight we have confirmed I was not nutty. It is a white Eurasion collard-dove. We live in Southwest Idaho.
We live in Stafford, OR and had our first observation this morning of a lone Eurasian Collared Dove when it joined a Mourning Dove at the platform feeder on our deck rail. We were unaware of this species previously and at first suspected it to be an errant White Winged Dove. We took photos and have since confirmed it’s identity. It seemed somewhat skittish of our movements through the kitchen window and retreated high into the large overhanging tree before eventually working its way back to the feeder. The Mourning Dove that ran off a Black Headed Grosbeak just moments prior appeared unfazed by the Eurasian’s presence at the feeder.
I live in Juneau, Alaska. Two summers ago I heard what sounded like a dove in a neighbor’s tree. I heard lots of doves growing up in Arizona but had never heard one here so it took me by surprise. I’ve heard it off and on ever since. The last time was only a few days ago. I think it must be nesting nearby. So Eurasian doves have been in Southeast Alaska for at least the last 3 years.
I just sighted one of these birds on my deck at Tee Harbor and found your posting after a google search. I have never seen one before in Juneau.
I live on the northern California coast, in Mendocino County, and have watched this increase in population of the Eurasian Collared Dove literally *explode* since about 2004. When our birding list on Yahoo Groups began reporting the birds showing up at feeders well south of us, I knew we’d be seeing them up here very soon. In 2009, I traveled down the coast to the Central Coast (Santa Barbara Co.) and saw Eurasian Collared Doves at just about every stop along the way between here and there. This was on the coast Highway. (Highway One).
At Big Sur, I didn’t see as many, but as soon as I got out of the mountains and into more populated areas, true to form, there they were.
They are all over neighborhoods here (Mendocino) and there (Sonoma Co., southwards, except at Big Sur).
The range map shows zero for our area, so I am wondering; has any data come in for the Mendocino coast and inland areas?
I live in Western South Dakota in the Black Hills area. I first reported seeing a pair of Eurasian Collared Doves about 3-4yrs ago. Since then their population has grown tremendously. I’ve had as many as 14 in my yard at one time. Today the original pair were at the feeder. One is almost off white in color compared to their usual color.
Hi carol…I’m from Spearfish, and they seem to have taken over this area. Since they came two years ago, I haven’t seen a single meadowlark, that used to be plentiful.
Hello all,
I just visited Sitka, Alaska for a 5 day fishing trip. I heard the dove call the first day, and thought that someone had a pet dove…then spotted it up in a tree. I called a Dan Gibson in Fairbanks, and he told me it was the Eurasian Collared dove. Sure enough, my photos confirmed this. There were at least 15-20 in the immediate area, and they were very active in breeding/courtship. One of the people there said that they showed up about 2-3 years ago, and stay the winter.
I am trying to identify this little guy. I am pretty sure it is either a Eurasian Collared-Dove or a hybrid. Can you help me out.
Thanks a bunch.
Hi Tammi,
Your bird looks exactly like a Mourning Dove. Check for a tapered, rather than a squared tail, and listen for the coo. The coo is distinctive: Who-OO-oooo-oooo-ooooo….the Eurasian Collared Dove’s coo is more like OO-oooo-OO-oooo-OO-oooo and resembles at a distance, a Eurasian Cuckoo (like in a cuckoo clock). 🙂
I live in Ketchikan Alaska and have several of these Doves around the house. Their seems to be quite a few of them in this area because I have seen and heard them all over town.
We have then here in Payson Az, they lay eggs all year around, even when there is snow on the ground. I enjoy their call which is soothing. they are also easy to call into you, just put your hands together where you can blow thru your thumbs and you can imitate them perfectly.
I have been watching a Eurasian collared dove courting
a mourning dove for three days at my feeder. He vocalizes
and bows repeatedly, chasing the mourning dove often.
It certainly looks odd to see what must be one confused
Collared dove and one frazzled mourning dove! So I
would say that yes-hybridization may occur!
We have them here on the Western side of Spokane, WA. We never saw these birds last year but have noticed several pairs this year in the Nine Mile Falls area along the Spokane River. Very skittish and hard to get a picture of.
After a few sporadic sightings here in the last few years, the Eurasian collared-Dove has now nested in extreme southern Quebec for the first time this summer. Up to 6 birds, including 2 juveniles, have been found recently in the small village of Sainte-Brigide d’Iberville, se of Montreal. At this moment, a pair is presumably incubating eggs in a large spruce tree in the middle of the village. As said before, it was just a matter of time before the species becomes established in se. Canada.
Saw my first Eurasian Collared Dove on my back deck last evening and again this morning. We live in the foothills outside of Denver, Colorado at 7,200 feet.
I’ll keep you posted.
There is one, possibly more Collared doves living by Dundee Hill in Port Townsend, WA. I’ve heard it’s coo for weeks now, and finally had a visual identification yesterday. This is the first year I have seen them here.
Well after seeing just a pair here in Nine Mile Falls, a couple of months ago we have noticed a lot more in the area. Boths sides of the river here have them and they seem to really like life along Long Lake.I guess they are here for good.
J
A Eurasian Collared Dove stoped by our feeded in Quincy, MA twice this week. Seems to be hanging out with some of our regulars. Nice improvement to the neighborhood.
I live in Kingston, WA on Puget Sound. This year for some reason, there are more Band tailed pigeons and Mourning Doves visiting our feeders. Then yesterday, 3 new visitors: Eurasian Collared Doves, feeding along side the Mourning Doves on the ground beneath the hanging feeders. These birds do not appear in any of the Western Bird books so I was glad to find your website
I’ve just had a pair of Eurasian Collared-Doves visit my exterior window sill here in Brooklyn, New York – a nice surprise.
I have a pair of Eurasian Collared Doves at my feeder every morning. I live in Ford Washington in the middle of the wooded area. We are within walking distance of the Long Lake Dam.
has anyone seen any of these collared doves in Virginis?
Has any one seen “Junior”, collared (ring neck) dove in Downtown Vancouver, West End, between Beach ave, Pacific and Thurlow, missing since July 29, 2011
appreciate any news/update
I found one of these beautiful little doves, which I’d never seen before, trying to perch on the top of my (opened) patio umbrella today in Portland OR, about 10 feet from several feeding stations I maintain. He/she wasn’t shy, and almost seemed ready to take if I had offered some grain out of my hand. It then hopped down to walk along the deck rail, before checking the ground around one of the stations, for some goodies. After identifying it in a bird book, I found your website and read the recent posts from Oregon folks. We have a population of pigeons and mourning doves clustering a few blocks away; now I’m curious if the little visitor today has other family members in the area.
If any others are sighted in the Portland area, I’d like to know.
I have been feeding several of these delightful collared doves winter, spring and through the summer. I have a pair that show up like clock work and with the dove season opening in two days my heart aches that they won’t be here much longer. I do believe with a little patience I could have them eating out of my hand. They are all over the town and the farmers say they are abundant in the fields.
They just reached here (Sekiu, Washinton) in 2010. Hoping they won’t drive out the native band-tails! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U0bcSbozA4 The stock doves, by the way, have never gotten a hold up here, although one mostly white flock lives on one farmer’s land and visits the beach.
Third year in Prince Rupert British Columbia seeming to be more numerous each season. They have a very noticeable cooing sound.
I photographed a breeding pair on Annette Island, Alaska this summer. They produced a clutch of four.
We live maybe 10 miles east of Salem, Oregon. There has been a pair of Eurasian Collared Doves hanging out in our backyard for at least two years. I thought they had been rare here, but it sounds like they are not as rare now. When we first saw them we thought they were Pigeons. They looked too big for Doves and some bird books didn’t show the Willamette Valley as a home for the Eurasian Collared Dove. Looking at the pictures in the books, I knew they had to be doves. I see them mingling with the smaller Mourning Doves. Occasionally they will chase the Mourning Doves away, but most of the time they leave each other alone.
Hi I live in England, U.K.Happened upon this forum.Finding the subject on the collared dove, as it is known here faintly amusing.We were invaded in the fifties and now the birds have colonised all areas.saw my first one in the seventies.I quite like them and find them a rather gentle peaceful bird.I can have up to eighteen in the garden on the feeder, they love sunflower hearts.Ihope that they don’t threaten any of your native species and that they and you can live along side one another.
I found a fledgling under a car in the parking lot at work. The weather was hot and no mother to be found and it couldn’t fly yet. It still had it’s baby feathers. I took it to the local Conservancy and they wouldn’t accept it because it is considered an “exotic” and advised to hang a box on a tree limb and see if the mother comes along to feed it. This was a Friday afternoon and there was no way I was going to leave it all weekend by itself, as there are large hawks, ospreys and other birds around the building that overlooks a retention lake. So, I took it home, hand fed it and two weeks later it is eating finch seed on it’s own and is now flying. He loves hanging out in our closed in lanai where he is safe. My house backs up to a preserve. I live in Florida. Hopefully when he’s old enough he will want to fly away and be free, we shall see. He’s a smart and sweet beautiful bird.
I’m in southeastern Washington and have seen Eurasian Collared Doves here for several years. Last winter I had ten to fifteen at a time at my feeders and a nearby neighbor has them nesting on his property. (He has large trees, only one tree on my place.) There are also a fair number of mourning doves here year round, so it seems the two species are getting along pretty well.
Miami Florida . Nov 14 2011:
A friend and i spotted many of the Eurasian collard doves in the summer of 1972 in the Florida Keys nesting in the center of the Islands that had no road access. The center area of many of those one acre or less islands have a shallow fresh water ponds or puddles of rain water. I was drafted into the US Army in Dec 1972 and saw those dove (which we called ring neck pigeons) before I left. The other bird on those islands was a ring neck quail. The first time i saw the Eurasian dove in the Miami area was in 1993 after Hurricane Andrew destroyed so much and wiped out entire areas of the native bird species. Currently at our feeder we are seeing 2 dozen morning doves, three of four white winged doves, and a half dove Eurasian doves, black hood parrot, Quaker parrots, a few blue jays, and three types of black birds. The cardinals, sparrows, finches, and orioles never recovered from Hurricane Andrew in 1992, well not in this area in West Dade.
I have several here right now. I was suprised they did not migrate to a warmer climate this fall. I am 40 miles south of Jackson Hole, WY.They are not used to people and fly away if I go outside. They range from a light grey to a darker tanninsh color.
This is my first FeederWatch year (winter 2011). I noticed the ECDs for the first time in great numbers last year. I probably didn’t pay enough attention in past years, so perhaps they’ve been here in the SE Aurora suburbs of Denver CO for longer. But this winter, there are no Mourning Doves, only the ECDs. They co-existed all summer, but the MDs are gone now. I can’t tell the sex of the ECDs, but it’s interesting to watch how one of them continues to exhibit what appears to be courting behavior even at temperatures below freezing. One of these birds is constantly chasing some away, while trying to cozy up to others. Maybe he’s just cold.
Apparently, ECD’s will court and breed starting as early as late fall and breed throughout the summer. Goofy birds. They really are strange. There are several in our neighborhood who have chased off the Mourning Doves here as well – similar situation; co-exist peacefully all summer, then chase them off in fall….(northern CA coast)
I became aware of the collared dove when I was serving in Mosul Iraq in 2009. Before we deployed i gave my squad a pep talk and explained that I expected that we would likely be shot at and missed and hit at and hit. I have never been more prophetic. The rockets, ied’s and vbed’s all missed but our barracks were directly under the tallest popular trees in the region an every evening a few thousand doves roosted overhead and besiged us with a constant barrage of droppings. We all came home safely, but the doves must have followed us home. They are now the most common dove here in Centralia Washington, but I don’t think that there are any less mourning doves,or band tail pigions than before.
At Mosul the collared doves were the most common bird but 90 K north in Zako Kurdistan rock doves are more abundant- and it was not unusual to see hybrid doves. Mosul is similar habitat to northern California, and they grow dry winter wheat like we do in eastern Washington. I expect in a few years we may have massive flocks in many regions of the US.
I’m in Albuquerque and I saw three in my neighborhood in 2006. By 2009 I was able to find 90 within a 100 yard radius of my house. These birds start calling almost as soon as the winter solstice is past and continue until late summer, so I guess they spend much of the year breeding.
The mourning dove population out here has dropped dramatically–time was when I would look out and see 60 on the wire behind my house. Now I might see a dozen while walking around the block. (Mourning doves face competition not only from collared doves but white-winged doves as well and those have become more numerous over the years.)
I was making a service call in Weymouth, MA a few weeks ago (I fix computers). There in the kitchen, in a bird cage was a Eurasian Collared Dove. I had seen one at our feeder frequently last summer. I inquired and learned her pet dove was raised by her grand daughter’s elementary school class and began as the kids learned about hatching birds from eggs. When summer vacation came my customer accepted the pair and raised them in her home where the one lone surviver is now 6 years old.
I wonder how much school projects have led to the colonization of North America.
That is an excellent point, Jon and I believe that even though the first release may have came from the Bahamas they also had some help from others. I have discovered over the years that it takes a special caged bird or animal to make it on it’s own when released and think the ECD was one of them. As I young man I turned both caged, quail pheasant and Wild turkey loose to repopulate areas but it never worked. They would all disappear with in a year.
I just saw a pair of these doves in my backyard in the central valley of California!
I saw a pair in Nanaimo BC, Vancouver Island yesterday, Feb 11, 2012,. I have never seen them before and when they flew over head I did not recognize them. I knew they were not pigeons or morning doves so I followed them to the tree they perched on to have a better look. No camera at the time.
these doves are in California now
I live in Edmond, Oklahoma…This is the second year I have seen ECDs here….Boy they really get rid of the grain in our backyard feeders…I am concerned they are running off our traditional ground or mourning doves. Where will they end up!!!!!!!
I’m in Anza Ca.(rural riverside co. 4000′)Pretty common birds here now. I like ’em and so do the local cooper’s. I really haven’t seen any reduction in our mourning dove populations athough, I have started to noticed the occasional white winged doves up here which untill recently was unusual. Incidently, down in the desert communities around the Palm Springs area there are well established colonies of the smaller African Collard doves.
Spring Green, WI – I just had three eurasian collared doves arrive and an all white or very light gray dove which looks like an african collared dove, formerly called a ringed turtle dove.
I have been watching these doves for about 4 years now here in Kansas and have to disagree with some of the articles printed about them. First I don’t think that the the spread of them came from FL. but were started in our area from birds that were turn loose by movie makers. Watch “Dancing with Wolves” or Harry and the Henderson’s and you will see these doves being used as props in the movies. It is hard for me to believe that these birds were ever recaptured. We are also seeing white doves. These birds are being released at weddings and special events. As far as them being a threat to native species, I’m not seeing it. I have them at my feeders every day and they feed with other birds including Morning doves. There is also the rumor that they do not migrate which is false. The majority of them do but like ducks and geese some do not. One thing they have in common with most non native birds is that they always stay close to towns or any where they can get a free meal, I have seen a few that appeared to be a cross with other birds because of their color but these birds never returned. Just about every town around my area have the breeding populations of them now.
I’ve neither seen, nor heard, my favorite, and familiar, mourning doves since these collared doves showed up 2 years ago. I miss the mourning doves.
Interesting posts. I’m begining to think Ron’s on to something about their dispersal origins at least in the west. Filming relases could very well be the primary cause of the ECD’s colonization. Up untill this year I would occaisionally see the odd one while down in the valleys (suburban setting). Here in so. cal. exotic birds are nothing new to the Los Angeles
basin. Historically various “pet trade spieces” have had established small colonies and for decadeds amazon parrots have nested in orange co. but I live quite rural in the San Jacinto mtns. There is usually 1- 3 at my feeder and a pair have put a nest about 15′ up in a pine on our acreage. Also now that Steve’s mentioned it I haven’t heard any mourning doves at all this year but I sure get to hear those collard doves all the time.
I live in Milbank, south Dakota and during our fall/ winter/early spring we get eurasion ring necks. i always used to think they were mourning doves until i got a closer look at them. they seem to over run my feeders during those times of year.
we live in abbotsford british columbia canada-this past weekend we hear this strange
bird call and we to thought it was a mourning dove–after checking with some local
birding groups turns out they are eurasian collared doves–what a nice addition to
our backyard: billie & mike
I have heard they have been found as far north as AK. but have never had it confirmed. They are a beautiful bird and their call is strange they also make a squawking sound but only the males do it. The owl sound they make is also done by only the males and they fill the bag under their bill with air just like the morning dove and release it.to make the sound.
West central Illinois. We had two last year. Three this week plus a strange smaller brown and white splotched dove.
Linda, I had one like that as well several years ago, I think it was a cross between a collared dove and a morning dove. I have pictures of it but I have never seen another one like it again.
We live on Vancouver Island, B.C. Imagine how surprised I was when I spotted these 2 doves eating the seed I throw out for my many birds. What a wonderful site, and a great new addition to my many species.
I live in south central Idaho and these birds are here year around. The have pushed the mourning doves out of town and are horribly messy! Have been here now about five years or so
A.C. Likes, Glenns Ferry, Idaho
We are not seeing that here in Kansas. First of all these doves like most feral birds, like pigeons will only live in the cities. I have came to the conclusion that they can not make it in the wild with out humans to feed them. I have watched them and some will remain but the majority of them migrate and like English sparrows a few will will remain through the winter. Now where they migrate to is any one’s question but feel they will end up in a city some where in the south. The ones I see will feed right along with the morning doves and see little competition.
Seattle, Washington, Memorial Day weekend, 2012. Heard the call, Googled ‘hoo-hoo, hoo’ and was thrilled (though baffled) to conclude that my neighborhood was hosting one to a few male great horned owls–but then saw this odd bird, and then saw it call. Now find the inescapable truth, and am awfully sad.
I also live on Vancouver Island and just saw my first pair of these lovely birds drinking from our fish pond – we have several feeders but haven’t seen them there yet.
i live on haida gwaii (queen charlotte islands) and have been feeding three doves all winter.
had a pair nesting in my garage in ontario many years ago and was very surprised and very happy to see them arrive this far north. they are very tameable.
Lisa French June 6 2012…I live in Northwestern Montana in the small town of Paradsie. I have a pair of Collared Doves eating out of my feeder. This the first sighting in our area.
I first spotted a single dove 2 summers ago, photographed it but was unaware of Eurasian Collared at that time. We now have 4 that frequent our garden, (Courtenay, BC, North/mid-Vancouver Island) and can identify their call everywhere in town, and in the rural areas around us.
I could, and do, listen to them for hours.
Here in the juniper-pinon western foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountains of north-central NM I started noticing the Eurasian Collared Doves under my feeders a few years ago. Soon after their arrival I also noticed that I wasn’t hearing the Mourning Doves anymore, which I greatly missed. But this year the ECDs are back AND the MDs are back as well (joy and delight!). And I’ve also seen at least one white winged dove too. Maybe it’s a good year here for doves. In any case, the term “invasive species” conjures up aggressive or predatory invasion, but the collared doves do not seem at all aggressive; they just kind of humbly move in, settle into the neighborhood and do their thing. They are very comfortable hanging out under the feeders, whereas the mourning doves only rarely make an appearance there. But I hear them all around, so at least for now my concerns about competition are allayed.
I have been watching them for about 5 years now and on occasion they will chase away the morning doves but it appears to be by the males and has nothing to do the with the food. You have to remember that as a rule feral birds have to never managed to make it on their own in the wild. That is why you will always see feral birds in the cities. Our state has an open season on the Collared doves but hunters seldom shoot one because they never leave the cities. Actually they are a lot like pigeons.
I am glad I got my mourning dove while I could!! While I wanted a male, and the female coo and body are not both as nice as the males, I am glad that I got one while I could before they got driven off by the new wild ringneck–Eurasian collared dove. The Eurasian collared dove looks very similar to the ringneck sold in pet shops, but the ones in pet shops are called the Barbary dove. The Barbary dove has a series of hooo-hooo-roos, sometimes followed with heee heee heee hee— I am in California, and they’re herreeeee!!!
Just saw one here in Juneau Alaska!
Mark, we are watching a pair here in Tenakee Springs, Ak, too!
I have noticed an abundance of these Collared Dove in the Toquerville Ut area while visiting my children the past three years. I have also seen several pair in the spring of 2010, 2011 and this year in and around the Peshastin area in North Central Washington. I enjoy their sounds outside of my home windows.
I live on the central Oregon coast and have started hearing these doves for the first time late last year. I haven’t actually seen them yet, but there seem to be more of them cooing in the neighborhood all the time.
Throw corn and Milo out on the ground and they will find it. They put on quite a show for you once you start watching them. Only the male makes the cooing sound just like the Morning dove and they do it to attract a mate. When you observe them doing it they will fill out their throats with air and blow it out. After they do it and there is a female bird around they do a little hopping dance. They also make a squawking sound when they want to chase off other males.
If you would like to contribute data on the spread of Eurasian Collared-Doves, consider joining Project FeederWatch. The only way we can track the spread of this species is with data submitted by FeederWatch Participants – sign up to contribute so that your data can count!
For years it has been reported that the spread of the Eurasian Collared dove’s was spread from the East but I have to respectfully disagree. This may be the case back east but the Eurasian Collar Doves have been tuned loose for years by Movie studios out West when using them for props. “Dancing with Wolves” as well as “Harry and the Henderson” are just two right off the top of my head that I have seen them in. Once turned loose I’m sure will never return. That same goes for the White dove. I have seen them for years and never could figure out where they came from until I saw where some company sells them for wedding and large parties. I have often question if the spread of the West Nile virus was spread by birds like the Eurasian Collared dove since both the dove and disease came from the same area but only had one professor from KU that ever seemed to take notice to the theory. They are just like ducks and geese some will migrate and some don’t it just depends on what has been taught them by adult birds and other subject that get’s rejected by those in charge.
I live in Tenakee Springs, Alaska (Southeastern Alaska) and the last couple days we have been watching a pair (well, two) doves that match the pictures and descriptions of the Eurasian Collared. Is this exceptionally far north for their range? We’ve never seen them before.
Vicki they claim in Europe that these birds have been seen as far north as the Arctic circle. Since they rely on people to feed them they will make it. We have them here in Kansas an on occasion it will get pretty cold but some will not migrate and they make it.
Have had a male cooing in my yard for a month or so in Sidney on Vancouver Island – very pleasant sound that can be heard from inside the house at times. Thought we had an insomniac owl hanging around!
Saturday late afternoon, June 23, 2012.
I saw this unusual bird in my backyard sitting on the birdbath. I had my camera, as always.
I took the picture of this strange looking bird and came to the computer and found its identity. It was a Eurasian Collared Dove. I live in Warner Robins, GA.
Well, for us the novelty of seeing this new immigrant has worn off. Not in a bad way either, it’s just that the’re now more common here than mourning doves. However, now that summers here there’s still plenty of native doves around too. I don’t think there’s too much compitition between the two for resources. Lately I’ve been paying a lot of attention to both birds.
It looks like the mourning doves tend to gleen very small weed seeds and really do a good job working the ground for them. I don’t see collard doves doing that. This is mainly small horse ranch/agriculture country so in a sense either directly or indirectly I think Ron’s right about collards relying on civilization.
My guess would be that if there’s any real compititon for food resources it’ll be at backyard feeders or in a larger sense as grain competitors with feral pigeons. Seems like they’ve found a niche that is right between the two species.
Anza, California
What a surprise to see a collared dove at my feeder 6-28-12! I’d never seen or heard of one before. I live in an isolated area (Sarkar Cove) on Prince of Wales Island in S.E. Alaska, and can hardly believe one found my seeds with so few feeders in the area. The Steller’s jays have accepted it and wait patiently for it to eat and leave. It arrived on an exceptionally wet day and looked bedraggled so maybe it blew in. This morning it looks recovered.
Yup, have the newcomer to our backyard now for about a month here in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
I viewed this bird in Umpqua Or. the summer of 2010. I am now living in Bakersfield, Ca and just this Month have viewed this same bird. I visited Umpqua last week and observed many more eurasians and also noticed the complete lack of morning dove. Just an observation.
Cole Thomas
Cole we have had both birds at out feeders for over 5 years and there doesn’t seem to bother them. You have to remember that it is not that wise to get the morning Dove use to be fed at feeders any way. Once they get use to it they teach their young to do the same thing.
How can you get rid of these Eurasians? We have a mating pair. Lots of poop in the neighborhood and constant noise:(
on the central coast of British Columbia- Aristazabal island 2 arrived on the 21st of June 2012 then up to 6. 1 has a green band on right leg. 2 also spotted on Calvert Island also Bc coast- both sightings at remote homestead sites with people and feeders. thanks
I live in Tucson, Arizona. We have many Mourning Doves all year long and White Winged Doves March Through September. This month I saw for the first time a Collared Dove, There’s a pair staying by our house. We see them by the Quail block in the yard.
We have a nesting pair of the Collard Doves in the ponderosa pines in our yard. They seem very adept at taking care of themselves and thier young. The Stellar Blue Jays come through in gangs and most birds have difficulty defending thier young and eggs from them. The Collard Doves seem to be agressive enough and strong enough to chase them off and defend thier nests. I have noticed numerous Collard Doves in the Leavenworth/Peshastin region that I live in. They are very distinctive and easy to spot. I have noticed some of them for the last three years but this year there seem to be many more. It looks like they are here to stay. One wonders what effect they will have on other native species.
From Bill Cartwright, Dunsmuir, Calif
My Brother and I have been Dove hunters since the 1940’s in San Diego County and the Colorado River area. We now live in Northern California. We saw two ECD’s in Corning five years ago. Since then we have discovered that these birds congregate around piles of Almond shells. They devour great quantities of almond pieces and they taste wonderful. As the ECD is considered an invasive species of dove ther4e is no limit placed on how many you can take. On ope4nin day 2011 we killed many ECD’s and never even saw a regular mourning dove.
You will find these doves any where people will feed them. The Collard doves is like any feral bird that has been held in captivity and has never learned to live from the land and nature. Most states allow them to be harvested but are seldom shot because they usually dwell in cities.
We had one pair last year near our home in Hood River,Oregon. Yesterday morning we were BESET by these birds when a flock of about fifty settled in the immediate area and began to find our feeder. They just appeared as if by magic from places unknown and have been darting about. This morning they seemed to discover walking on the driveway. I wonder if they are on their way somewhere or will settle.
Good information Frank. The chance are they are migrating.
I thought that might be the case. We’ve had the pair over the last winter, but just them. Where are their migratory cousins migrating to?
The collared dove is no different than any bird and migration is a taught practice. Some will but as long as we keep feeding them some will winter here. I had one couple last year that spent the winter but we had one of the mildest winter on record here in Kansas. From what I have seen of the migration is they will flock up with the morning doves and follow their lead. I’m glad you shared this with me because I didn’t know what was happening back west.
I saw several walking in the street in Wasco, OR as I drove through this past May. I did have a pair that repeatedly visited my bird feeders in Spring 2011 at my home near Tualatin, OR but have not seen any here since.
After watching collared dove is Utah and Idaho for the last seven years I have come to the following conclusions. Dove don’t migrate, they disperse. They are in northern Utah and Southern Idaho year around. They seem to be limited by elevation and are rarely seen above 6000 feet. They don’t compete directly with morning doves by I have seen evidence of hybridization. They are attracted to feedlots that have mature conifers around them. Although easy to identify the majority of the public does not differentiate them. It is my believe that they are fill a nitch left by the passenger pigeons. They are here to stay and since they are attracted to human environments they will never produce a huntable population..
Bryce, you mentioned a hybrid. What did it look like? I too saw one that was mated to a collared dove that was much lighter in collar and had brown spots on it. I had an old picture of it but some how it got lost. If you can get a picture of it I would love to see it.Migrating is a taught process among birds. Some will and others will not. The same thing goes on how far they migrate. There was an old Disney movie about a young girl that had pet geese in Canada and taught them how to migrate using a hang glider. I doubt seriously that it was true but it does explain how it works.
Ron, migration is not usually a taught process. Please see our comment below.
I am from Bloomington, Illinois (central part) and today I saw a Eurasian Collared Dove. At first I thought it was an owl because of the sound it was making. It was sitting on top of the light post which is quite high. After seeing the black collar and the squared tail, I decided to see what kind of Dove it was. It didn’t stay long, so I guess it was just passing through.
Here in Hood River, Or these doves are not popular, and I have not heard anyone call them cute or nice. I spend only the summers here and so can tell the difference from year to year. This year the ECD has replaced not only the mourning doves and scrub jays at our back yard feeders, but also the squirrels. In this neighborhood their irritating call ( not the hooo hoo sound) is the common topic of conversation over the fence. And people want to know what they can do to stop them. Cheryl Stewart
Cheryl, there is not much you can do to stop them but like all feral birds they can’t or will not live on nature and have to be fed like most feral birds. I have been watching them for four years at my feeders and go through about 100 pounds of corn and milo a month. Both Squirrels and morning doves feed with them regularly and other than when they get too close or a young Collared male tries to get too friendly with a female morning dove do you see any conflict. Just about every town has then but you will seldom see them in the country. Hunters in Kansas are allowed to shoot them during Dove season but hunting is done out of the cities and towns and that is where the Eurasian doves stays.
I live in northwest Washington (Anacortes) and had never seen one before this March even though I pay pretty close attention to the birds in my yard and wherever I go. My son pointed one out in our back yard, now we have them seemingly permanently. You can’t walk outside without hearing them. I drive all over Skagit County during my water quality monitoring rounds, and am now seeing them in many locations. Here, it’s never large flocks, just ones and twos scattered about the landscape where there were none last year. I’m told the first Skagit County sighting was 2006. They are everywhere in the valley areas now. So far I am not seeing them in the foothills and mountains around here.
Also saw them in Virginia City, NV this summer – about as different a habitat from my lush yard as is possible. These things are taking over!
Much of the published information seems to indicate not much problem with competition with native species, but I believe they have replaced mourning doves in some locations that I frequent.
I doubt seriously if they will ever replace the morning dove or any native bird that has been taught to live in the wild, From what I have seen of the Eurasian dove they are about like pigeons and rely on humans to feed them. Will they adapt is a good question. Sparrows and pigeons never have.
Cheryl Stewart of Hood River: The ECD is not listed as a song bird in the USA and is an invasive species so not controlled under Fish and Game seasons. Much like ferral pigeons. A good way to control them would be to eat them. They are a delectible dish and can be prepared many ways.
Each state controls fish and game season, not the federal government. The only thing the Federal government controls are migrating birds or endangered species. The state of Kansas does allow the taking of the EC doves during the morning dove season but it is actually a moot point because the birds seldom leave the cities or towns except to migrate and only a guess but I would say they only go from town to town.
I live in Alliance, Ne and have 1 Collared dove that has called this home for 2 years now. Now this summer I have spotted 5 or six in my neighborhood alone. They are a shy bird
and really do not feed with the finches but will watch quietly from their perch on the privacy
fence until they leave and then land on the lawn to pick through the seeds left by the
finches and other birds that visit. They do have a similar habit like the turtle dove to sit in the trees and on the powerlines to coo in the late afternoons. We have 2, 80′ cottenwood trees so the speices of trees does not matter to them. I Have 2 nests in my cottenwood and it is a pleasure to see them every morning making their rounds around the neighborhood like clockwork.
Douglas, What does the nest look like? What are they made of? How high up are they?
they are a roughly built nest with cottenwood twigs and are aproximately 6 to 7 ” in diam.
ALSO. The nests are about 20′ high.Al
I have a pair that come to my feeder on my deck … when the finches have left … Park City, Utah.
Hi, my name is Sonia Gray and I live in Westport, Wa. I just wanted you to know that we have Eurasian Collared-Doves here. They started showing up here this spring (2012) and are still camping here as of October 2nd. Just in case you are interested.
I have two of these doves in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Do they migrate for the winter?
Eurasian Collared-Doves do not migrate. You can find out more about them here: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eurasian_Collared-Dove/id
These doves are like any other bird. Migrating is a taught trait some will and some won’t . We have geese here in Kansas that were stocked by our wild life dept. and most of them won’t migrate. If they do migrate they migrate to the city where people will feed them. Eventually they will learn to do. If you think about it most feral birds like pigeons, English sparrows will not migrate as long as there is some one to feed them. I have watched the doves here in my town for over 5 years now and we will always have a few stay the winter but the majority leave about the time the morning doves leave but do come back early usually in late Feb.
Some folks are confusing general bird movement with actual migration. Lots of species move from one area to another; that doesn’t mean they’re migrating. Migration is usually defined as a regular, seasonal journey, back and forth between breeding and wintering grounds that are typically far apart on a geospatial scale. There are lots of other types of bird movement that are not migration: like irruption, where birds move in response to cyclical changes in food supply (like Red-breasted Nuthatches and northern finches in the boreal forest), or nomadism, where birds roam randomly in search of food like American Robins, or Old World species in harsh desert climes that roam randomly in search of water. Sometimes these nomadic species breed wherever they can find stable food sources, even at any time of the year, like crossbills do.
Stocked geese moving from the country to the city or House Sparrows and Pigeons roaming in flocks is not migration: these are not migratory species.
At a basic level, migration evolves when birds that move from one area to another produce more offspring than those that do not. When migratory patterns evolve over hundreds or thousands of years the urge to migrate becomes part of the birds genetic make up. The vast majority of migratory North American birds are genetically programmed with a basic migratory route, essentially like an internal GPS, and they’re then aided along the way by geographical features, and even the earth’s magnetic fields which help them get their bearings.
A few species, like Whooping Cranes and Canada Geese, learn the details of migratory routes by following other members of their species, but this is much more the exception rather than the rule. Most migratory bird species disperse far away from their parents after fledging and receive no assistance or “training” from their parents or other members of their species. They rely on what’s already built into their genetic code.
Thank you so much for this comprehensive explainer. If my high-school biology teacher had said that I wouldn’t have been confusing bird travels for decades. As I now understand it this dove species is simply spreading out looking for food and a place to live. It seems to me that they reach a sort of equilibrium population in a certain area and then spread from the edges to territory in which there are few, if any, of their kind. Am I close?
You’re welcome, Frank! I’m glad we could clear things up for you. I think you have the general idea of it now; it’s dispersion, not migration.
I have been retired since 1999 an the last five years have been watching these birds constantly trying to figure out exactly what they have been doing. I go through about 200 pounds of corn and milo a month so they never run out of feed. In fact the town has kind of made a joke of it, calling me the squirrel man of Elm street. 5 years ago when the first pair arrived it caught my interest simply because I had never seen them before. Since then I have watched them leave and return. They leave in Oct, and return in late Feb and early march. It is not hard to figure out because of the male calls and their trips to the feeders. Now how far they go is unknown but they do leave. Last year I did have one pair stay the winter but the rest did leave. Several years ago I did see a bunch together sitting on a high line with a bunch of morning doves and this was in late Sept. About all I can do is tell you what I am seeing not what I have read. The male is the only one that makes the call and usually does it when mating. He will puff up his feathers, blow air into his neck then blow it out making the cooing sound. At the end of the sound he will do a little jumping dance for the female. They also make a squawking sound. I have seen one mixed breed bird but that was 4 years ago and have never seen one since. I have pictures of these birds if anyone wants to see them. The mixed breed bird was a male and mated with a female collared dove. He was some what larger, lighter grey with brown splotches.
dont know if my last comment took or not… I cant see it. I have a hybridized version of the Eurasian collard dove, and the Mourning dove… They are the size and color of the Eurasian dove, with the exception that they are more cinnomon in overall color and their wing and tail feathers are darker and more exagerated… their temperment is more docile than the eurasian dove, and more comprable to the Mourning dove…
I think it is exciting that the Eurasian Collared dove is making great gains in invading North America. I hope it flourishes, but doesn’t displace the common Mourning Dove to the extent of extinction. I do not know if the Collared dove will cohabit with the Mourners, or if one will evict and displace the other.
The Mourning Dove is a migratory bird regulated by Federal oversight and not local or state jurisdiction (which is why we purchase federal migratory bird stamps when sport-harvesting these birds). This begs the question: Is the Eurasian Collared dove migratory, as well? I doubt it would be classified as “Upland game”; but then again, it may not be classified at all, as sportsmen will take pleasure to know that at least in Louisiana, the harvest of Eurasians are not regulated with imposed limits. The Dept of Wildlife and Fisheries may not yet know how to classify this species; and due to its prolific nature, there may not be an urgency of need to regulate the harvest of them, at least for now.
How has the Collared dove, which is similar in size, interacted with the White Wing Dove in South Texas. This will be an interesting concert of cohabitation. If I am correct in reading: the Collared dove has migrated from the southeast. The White Winged dove migrates annually from the south in Mexico to the north, as well. Conversely, the Mourning dove migrates annually from north to south.
For the past 2 years I have had a single eurasion collared dove at my feeders in the spring in Fort Nelson, British Columbia . This year he/she seems to be staying for the winter . Am wondering how they make out in extreme cold?
Donna–Eurasian Collared-Doves are doing well in the far north. Many survive the winter in Alaska and British Columbia as long as they have access to food.
I have them basking in -20f in northern utah, Temperature is not an issue.
I have been wondering the same thing. I know that morning dove and white wing dove migrate and often they will fly out in front of a large storm. However the ECD’s have been gathering in my back yard here in Leavenworth Washington for the past couple months. First just a couple now twelve or thirteen. They have stayed through a good windstorm and two snowfalls. They seem comfortable as long as I keep the feeders full.
Since I have been logged on to the Feeder Watch blog, DeWayne Hess’ comments regarding the Mourning and White Wing doves is the first that I have seen the term “migratory” being used with relationship to any specific species of doves. Clearly Mr. Hess was not born yesterday and knows what he is talking about.
When we do speak of the migration habits of both the Mourners and WW’s, they do so each and every year, regardless of the north and south directions from where they come from, respectively.
However from what I gather, these ECD’s have been migrating from south Florida gradually and steadily for several years now toward the north and west. There is no return flight pattern from where they came from at the end of each annual cycle. Therefore, the term “invasive” that has been casually adopted to describe these ECD’s is quite appropriate, and should be used more officially instead of conveniently, as a proper and formal category to classify these birds.
I suppose now we can say the we have upland game birds, migratory waterfowl birds, migratory game birds, and invasive game birds. What have I missed? This rhetorical question is not at all intended to be sarcastic or cute. I am dead serious, as the behavior of this bird is new to me, unlike that of its cousins.
I am certain that there are other synonyms for the terms “invasive”, such as “nomadic”, but I cannot think of one that better describes the singular directional flight pattern of this species.
I will add that Mr. Hess’ description of the flock population in his yard that increased from a couple of birds to over a dozen tells me that they are nesting and laying eggs somewhere nearby. Albeit that these are social birds that cohese in groups, I am not yet convinced that the flock population increase was due to new members flying in to join the original two birds. However, on the contrary, several different flocks may enjoin for reinforcement before flying longer distances cross country.
In the meantime, I will take a page out of my Dad’s policy book when sport shooting a flock of any species of birds, as he mandated to all his boys to NEVER “take out” an entire flock, but instead to only shoot about half of the total flock, and leave the rest to multiply and regenerate the following spring. The ECD’s behavior pattern of nesting is very similar to that of quail and Mourning doves, as they nest in small groups of 10-12 birds, before moving on to greener pastures.
I am very anxious to learn how the Federal government will classify the ECD’s for future reference. So far, there has been no limits imposed on sport shooting this bird here in the Gulf States, let alone any other regulatory protection over them. This will be very interesting to watch in the coming years.
Phil in Louisiana.
Phillip, I started attracting ECD about 5 years ago in order to get them documented in Kansas. I started off with one pair and they nested here. Over the years these birds have not only multiplied but have learn to migrate. Now how far they go is unknown but migration is a learned then taught trait. I do usually have at least one pair that will usually hang on the full winter but think that not only a constant food source but water will allow them to stay. Like I have posted several times the ECD is like most feral birds, dogs or cats and need the help of people to survive. This is why you will seldom see a pigeon or English sparrow migrating and if they do they will head straight for a small town or city to feed .I don’t think the federal government has the authority to protect an animal that is non native to this country and leave this in the hands of each state. In Kansas there is now a season on hunting them during dove season but with different restrictions. For those interested the ECD prefers feeding from the ground. I feed them a mixture of milo and corn and go through about 200 pounds a month with help from the Squirrels.and pigeons.Like any bird or animal they do learn to adapt and I’m sure over years that their feeding practices can change.
I am going to post this comment again. This is an explanation of the difference between migration and nomadism. What we are seeing with Eurasian Collared-doves is nomadism. Also, Eurasian Collared-doves are well-adapted to live in populated areas where human-provided food is readily available. This does not mean they are incapable of living away from humans.
Some folks are confusing general bird movement with actual migration. Lots of species move from one area to another; that doesn’t mean they’re migrating. Migration is usually defined as a regular, seasonal journey, back and forth between breeding and wintering grounds that are typically far apart on a geospatial scale. There are lots of other types of bird movement that are not migration: like irruption, where birds move in response to cyclical changes in food supply (like Red-breasted Nuthatches and northern finches in the boreal forest), or nomadism, where birds roam randomly in search of food like American Robins, or Old World species in harsh desert climes that roam randomly in search of water. Sometimes these nomadic species breed wherever they can find stable food sources, even at any time of the year, like crossbills do.
Stocked geese moving from the country to the city or House Sparrows and Pigeons roaming in flocks is not migration: these are not migratory species.
At a basic level, migration evolves when birds that move from one area to another produce more offspring than those that do not. When migratory patterns evolve over hundreds or thousands of years the urge to migrate becomes part of the birds genetic make up. The vast majority of migratory North American birds are genetically programmed with a basic migratory route, essentially like an internal GPS, and they’re then aided along the way by geographical features, and even the earth’s magnetic fields which help them get their bearings.
A few species, like Whooping Cranes and Canada Geese, learn the details of migratory routes by following other members of their species, but this is much more the exception rather than the rule. Most migratory bird species disperse far away from their parents after fledging and receive no assistance or “training” from their parents or other members of their species. They rely on what’s already built into their genetic code.
Your explanation of nomadism was interesting and accurate. As a biologist, I have observed ERD populations in northern Utah and southeastern Idaho for the last five years. They do not show migratory behavior. As opportunists, they move to the optimum habitat and food sources. I watched a large (>200) population at agricultural/livestock area on a stream. There was a row of large pine trees at the site that were used extensively by the birds. Out of dislike for the birds he cut them down last summer and now there are less than 50 ERD. They rest moved. Since I have the suspicion they may fill the niche left by the passenger pigeons now that tree have returned across the U.S. and I was wondering, did passenger pigeons migrate?
I’ve counted as many as 150 Eurasian doves on my back power lines at once. I do not have out bird feeders. They are here year around. They raise and roost in red cedar trees in my back yard. I live in the country in northeastern Ok, there are so many they are becoming a nuisance, their droppings are everywhere and they are not small, not to mention how much of my dog food they eat. They are easily spooked, I can’t walk within 10 yds. Of the red cedar trees in my back yard after dark without spooking them off the roost, they just fly to another cedar tree down the line. They are a lot more nervous than mourning doves. They are legal to shoot during dove season in Ok, but My husband and I won’t shoot them although we do dove hunt. There’s just something not right about killing birds we’ve watched year around for the past 3 years, their numbers have gone from 1 pair to 150 in 3 years around here. I do enjoy the cooing sounds they make, I just wish they would find somewhere else to poop!
Birds are no different than any species of animals and will adapt and learn. For the last several years I have been noticing Bald Eagles that come into Kansas every winter and they spend the winter months along the Kaw river near my home. What they appear to be doing is following the geese because once the geese leave so do they. I also disagree with the release of the birds in Florida is the only source of ECD.. Movie makers have been using them as props in out door movies for years and I’m sure once released they never return. Two old movies you will see them in is Dancing with Wolves and Harry and the Hindersons. Both movies were made in the 80’s and could account for the bird population showing up on the West coast as well as the central part of the North America. Now all of this could be a moot point but perhaps we need to re think.our federal laws about prohibiting the use of caging native birds but allowing feral birds to be use for movies. As far as controlling the population by hunting them will never work because like most feral birds they will seldom leave the cities or towns.
Ron, I mean no disrespect, but based on your posts, it is apparent that you certainly are not a biologist. The information you give is inaccurate and readers should only view it as an opinion as it is not factual. Eagles Do NOT migrate. Please read the definition given by the hosts of this site.
Nor should the blame be placed on the film industry for the introduction of this species to our continent or their population growth. It would be silly to think that a movie in 1990 was the cause and effect. The birds were introduced to the Bahamas in 1970 and made their way to Florida in the early 80’s.
Based on your posts, I would say that you are responsible for the population growth in your area whether it be considered invasive or not- as you report that you feed them in your area in order to do your own “study”. You might wish to research and discover that they brood 2-4 times a year. Do the math – as each nest will have two eggs.
You may not be a biologist either. I am. Golden eagles do not migrate, Bald eagles do,
i saw collared doves in the boise idaho area for the first time today. about 10 individuals in 2 small groups. we have mourning doves at our feeders frequntly but have not seen collards greens yet. fish and game is nervous about them. ted lane, boise
Ted, you say that “fish and game are nervous about them…” (the ECD’s). Are you referring to the State’s Wildlife Department, or just the wildlife and fish population within the environment?
I think their concern is because they don’t have a Chrystal ball on showing them what affect these birds will have on our native wild life. It has occurred to me that since the ECD came from the same area as the West Nile virus the birds might have been an immunity to the disease but may be carriers of it. CDC assure me that this is not the case but is only one possibility on what can happen when we mess with our environment. Look what happen to Native Americans when Europeans first came here.
Point well taken, Ron. This merits watching very closely, and only time will tell its impact on the other bird polulations.
Even the National Park System will forbid one from bringing in his own firewood to burn when camping out at the parks. The alternative is to purchase bundles of firewood at the Visitors Centers which can get pricey, but this is deemed necessary by the Park Staff to control unwanted foreign pine beetles, termites, etc from infesting our national treasures.
It is simply a matter of environmental regulation that we all are too quick to judge and criticize, but when one returns from the filth and infestation of an undeveloped third world country, we are thankfully reminded or our cleaner and safer environment.
Our neighbor to our south, which we all today know as “Mexico”, should take a page from our book.
Eurasian collared doves started appearing at my feeding stations in Battle Ground, Washington this past summer. They appear in flocks of 10 or more. They are more aggressive than the usual mourning doves and seem to crowd them away from the feeders.
I’m not seeing that. I have been watching them for over 5 years and the morning doves and ECD feed side beside. I even watched a young male try his love song on a morning dove but was kissed off.
Jerry.
About three years ago I thought I had a rare bandtailed pigeon on my feeder because of it’s tail structure. Wrong. Now I have 20 to 30 collards on the feeder. Today there were about 15, and I am at 5000 ft. with a temp of 20 degrees in California
In San Luis Obispo, California, we noticed the ECD at our finch feeder, which has an 8 inch diameter bottom tray about 18 months ago. The ECDs gobbled up the black oil sunflower seeds like winged vacuum cleaners. Until I modified our finch feeder with about a dozen strategically placed straightened paperclips held in place with all-weather adhesive, the finches were being out-competed. Now, with the exception of one particularly intelligent ECD, the invaders are content to eat seed off the ground and our finches have returned. I call my invention “Stab-A-Dove.”
This is a good compairison picture of Mourning Doves and ECD.
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutBirdsandFeeding/EucdovRitdovID.htm
I believe I saw 2 in a small park in SW Washington. I was a bird I had not seen before and I was curious enough to have to internet search for the species.
My husband and I have been feeding birds for about 10 years now. We are near Marion, Illinois. Just this week we are feeding two nesting pairs of Eurasian Collared Doves. They are wonderful to watch and very beautiful.
I have recently, twice in the last week, had a pair visit my backyard and mingle with the mourning doves and other birds I put food out for. Beautiful birds.
Oops…forgot to add the I live in Oregon in the northwestern Willamette Valley.
This is the third year we have had them in great numbers in Hood River. I have about thirty in my immediate neighborhood. They put on a great show and mingle well with others.
First, I am a birder and feed hundreds of birds year around. Secondly, I am a hunter. Here on the Utah/Idaho border at Bear Lake we have expanding populations of Eurasian doves. With a harsh winter they are invading a lamb feeding operation so the landowner contact me to hunt some of the doves. They are a sporting bird, smart and great eating. don’t know what their future is but it will be interesting to see.
I live in Chase BC and have two in my back yard while snowing. This is the first time I’ve ever seen them and wasn’t sure what they were
I live 22 miles west of Salem OR; I saw a pair of ECD for the first time last year, 2012, in May; they nested about 7 feet up in a 50 foot Douglas-fir tree which had limbs to the ground.
On March 11, 2013 one collared dove visited my bird bath in the 26000 block of Sugar Pine Drive in Pioneer California at an elevaton of approximately 3,800 feet. The colllar was white, rather than black or black and white.
I was living in NE Wyoming in 2006-2007, around that time frame I started noticing the collared doves, at first I confused them with the once abundant mourning doves that showed up in my neighborhood in the spring, but soon realized they were a different species. It wasn’t long before I started seeing less and less of the mourning doves and more and more of the ECD invaders. I’m living in NE Nevada, now. I’ve lived in Nevada before, used to see many mourning doves throughout the state and always enjoyed their song, now I rarely see mourning doves at all, it appears to me the collared doves are having an effect on mourning dove population. I don’t care for the collared dove’s song. It’s loud & harsh compared to the mourning dove and they start at the crack of dawn outside my window in addition to roosting in my spruce trees year round and making a big mess. To me they are no better than pigeons and I lump them in with starlings & house sparrows as far as being an obnoxious invasive species.
I think the spruce trees are the key here. I believe their expansion is ties to mature evergreens which they prefer as habitat. Here in northern Utah a sheep rancher had so many around his feedlot he cut down the pine trees but left the rest of the deciduous trees and the population plummeted.
I saw, twice, an Eurasian Collared Dove in the same tree in Port Hadlock, WA this March.
Centrally Oregon here. We have been watching the influx of these doves for 4-5 years. Unlike most of the mourning doves the collared seem to hang around all winter. Unlike Idaho game officials in this state havemade collared doves a game species that can only be hunted during dove season in september. It will be interesting to see what impact these doves have on the natives in coming years.
We have a small flock in Butte Creek Canyon Chico Northern California. They are quite large, healthy and their numbers grow every season – they love the neighbors bird feeder! The have both of the distinctive calls I read about.
DeWayne Hess
I’m visiting Toquerville Utah, and have discovered the town if alive with the Eurasian Collared Dove! They are in the trees, yards, fence lines, powerlines and parks. I have seen them in the ajdacent towns of Hericane and St. George.
I really don’t think they are as many as we report. The doves seldom live in the wild. Like pigeons or most feral animals or birds, they live close to humans and their feeders, training their young to do the same. If you have a feeder or live close to some one that does ,you will see the birds. I have never seen on in the wild only in towns.
In my travels in northern Utah and southeastern Idaho I have observed ECD at many locations. They do like human influences but are not tied to them other than power lines. Mourning doves require cultivated fields. What is the difference? They are invasive and opportunistic.
Ron, we reside in a area on the pacific northwest waters and coast of Washington state- with fields and natural preserves and great open and wild spaces. The doves do prefer to stay close to the homes (which are not city nor town dwellings) nor do we feed them or have feeders. We have a tremendous amount of wild coastal, water (fresh and salt) fowl, eagles, snow owls, hawks and the typical robins, starlings finches etc. The doves are quite comfortable and seem to coexist with their feathered friends well.
The ECD is a lot like a pigeon and consumes a lot of grain. I go through about 100 pounds of milo and corn a month and they will only eat it off the ground. Of course the squirrels.and black birds get their share as well.
glad to hear they’re tasty!
exploding populations in
pueblo west, colorado
So happy to find this site. I live Killarney.MB, in the southwest corner of Manitoba Canada. About 3 weeks ago…early March…we first noticed these birds, about 5 or 6. They resembled mourning doves, but their tales were shorter and they appeared as if their bodies were bigger. A few days later they were sitting in a tree not far from my window and I could then see the black half-collars.
We do not feed birds as our deer population will do damage to any feeder in town. But we live on the edge of town, near a grain terminal, where there is plenty of spilled grain to eat.
In spite of abnormally cold spring temperatures, as well as a couple of snow storms, these birds have remained.
I have a pair of collared doves that are mingling with the mourning doves in my urban Fresno, California neighborhood. I’ve only seen the two birds, and started seeing them in January of 2013 for the first time. They seem to be flocking with the mourning doves.
I have just noticed a pair (maybe more) in our neighbourhood this spring. Have never seen or heard doves here in Comox, BC, Canada on Vancouver Island. I was puzzled since the bird book doesn’t have any doves listed as resident or transient in our area. Glad to have found this discussion, they are definitely Eurasian Collared Doves. We have lived her for 20 years and I have never seen one before.
I live in Yakima Wa.. I first saw these doves about 4 years ago. Didn’t think much of it at first. Now they seem to be everywhere. The state DFW allow year round hunting with no bag limit. I’ve ate a couple but didn’t find them all that great. Could be the way I fixed them I
guess.
I have seen one Ringed Turtledove (as my bird book calls them) in our yard and my feeders for the first time this spring 2013! I’m just west of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I’ve been
wondering where he came from?!
We live on the farthest nw point of Washington state on the coastal waters in an area called Ferndale (sandy point). We have had a pair of Eurasian’s who have made their home outside of ours. We first noticed them over a year ago and have since heard other neighbors who have pairs who reside by their homes as well. Ours are currently nesting.
We often worry about the survival as we have many Bald Eagles, Great Snow Owls, Hawks and other predatory birds daily in our area.
I have a breeding pair in my garden, they have been here for the past two weeks. We live in Keremeos British Columbia , I thought they we we mourning doves but using this site we were pleased to find the correct identification! Date: April22 2013
Since my last post in October, 2012 the large crowd has dissipated and we seem to have three pair making their home here. I sometimes see all six sitting on the same wire near our house. They alway sit very near the pole which makes me think they prefer a wire that doesn’t move much. When spooked they vanish into a,huge oak tree about 100 feet from their electrified perch which ismnotmfar from our bedroom window. I have come to appreciate and accept that their call is now a regular part of our soundscape.
Just saw a pair here at my place in southern Humboldt County, California. They are so tame and stupid acting my cats almost got them twice, so I thought they might be escapees…
I just saw a pair of these beauties in Ellensburg, WA. The neck band was narrower than the pictures shown here but was very visible. 29 April, 2013.
A pair of Eurasian collared doves in philomath Oregon
I noticed these birds in my Salt Lake Valley Neighborhood around 2200
West and 3800 South around four years ago because of their interesting coo coo coo.. vocalizations during flight, but I had not noticed their regular calls that are a little like some owls. Now I hear them all the time. At first I thought they were migratory since I never saw them in winter. Now I hear their calls year-round.
I’m not sure about the identity of these new doves in Northern Western Nevada, but their calls are extremely annoying (when not in flight) So annoying that when several of them surround my home in the trees, and they call, I have to go in the house for preserve my sanity. I wonder if these are the Eurasian Collared, based on their annoying call alone?
Lee Smith, Fallon, Nevada, May 8, 2013 – thumper8@cccomm.net
Lee, you can listen to Eurasian Collared-Dove calls here: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eurasian_Collared-Dove/sounds
Thank you so much !!!!! The recorded sound of their calls leaves no doubt now !!!
They are the hated Eurasians.! Now, I’ll check with the State Fish and Game Dept. to see if they are protected in Nevada? If not, I will hunt them with vigor with my trusty pellet gun. But the wonder of it all is you folks being able to furnish me with the recordings of the sounds of their calls; and you did it immediately ! Wow ! I was amazed for sure! I thank you again !!
Lee Smith
Each state is different on it’s law since it is a feral bird but the State of Kansas now list them as a game bird and can be hunted during dove season. Not too sure about the limit on them but it is a state’s call. I think they are a like like pheasants. Pheasant is a feral bird and does not migrate but still falls under the state’s jurisdiction.
Ronald, this is Lee Smith in Nevada. Fish & Wildlife in Nevada just told me that they are not protected, and to feel free to shoot them anytime. Here in the West that usually means that they are considered nusances, and please kill as many as possible. Feed is very limited here, and we want it preserved for the desirable species. What it all boils down to:
The value of any species is determined by the number there are in the available habitat. When the habitat won’t support all there are, then some have to be culled-out. It’s that simple. I suspect you live in an area with lots and lots of habitat, that can support lots of species, with lots of individuals? You mentioned pheasants. How I love those birds !
I’ve been to So. Dakota numerous times, helping to harvest all their surpluses.
These Eurasian-collared doves are going to be a problem simply from their numbers. I’m pretty sure they are going to overload our habitat, to the detriment of the Mourning Doves ?
P.s., yes, I’m spelling that right. Nice talking to you.
kls.
Nice talking to you as well Lee. I can’t say what happens in other parts of the country , that is why this site is so neat. It get’s view points from other parts of the country. The Eurasian Collared dove like most invasive birds in this country depend on people to feed them and stay in cities or small towns just like pigeons. Now that is not saying they can’t adapt, which they probability will eventually do..Even morning doves will prefer feeders over natural feed once they learn the trick. I’m sure that the morning doves that come to my feeders here in town are hatched here in town and come back to the same place to breed.You have to remember that crops like corn and milo which we have a lot of only will feed them for the short period when the crops mature. Several years ago we purchased 125 acres in MO. and turned it into a wild life area for deer and turkey allowing the crops of corn, milo and wheat to go unharvested all winter. As a result all wild live fed off of it all winter including several species of feral birds so these birds can adapt.
Lee, It is pretty interesting watching them make the call. The male is the only one that does it from what I have seen and it appears to me a mating call or a call if the male and female get separated. When on the ground the male will puff up his neck like a bag pipe or grouse and then exhale making the noise. After he exhales he does a little hopping dance towards the female. What is strange is the fact that our morning doves have the same mating dance and makes you wonder if the birds are not related.
Thank you for your comment, Ronald. I believe they are related. I have no doubt of it -based on observation only. Larger than the Mourning Dove, of course, and much more agressive. Which may explain why there are many of them ! I ‘m pretty sure these Eurasians are pushing the native doves out of the habitat – which is in Northern Nevada for sure, and probably all over Nevada in similar habitat. ?
Actually they are a beautiful bird. I just can’t stand the sound they make – loud and annoying! [ One I could stand. More than one is ” too many” !!!
Thanks again
Lee Smith
We have had them in my town here in Kansas for about 5 years. I’m retired and so have plenty of time to watch them. A friend of mine is a writer for an outdoors paper and wanted pictures of them when they first showed up so I started baiting them in. They won’t eat from feeders so I started throwing corn and milo on the ground. I started off with a pair back 5 years ago and now they are pretty much all over town. The majority of them leave in the fall but will have a few stick around and rough it. I don’t see any conflict between them and the morning doves. From what I am seeing is that they feed with them and if they stay their distance, no harm done. In the fall I even see them flocked up with the morning doves and wonder if they don’t even move south with them. In order to keep the monitors of this site off my back 8^) ,I don’t know if they migrate or not but have observed them leaving town about the same time the morning doves leave and come back in late Feb and early March. I do know that they are smart and do learn to adapt and this may have a lot to their success on adapting to life in North America. I would love to have more watchers report about their nests.
A pair spotted in Newport, Oregon 5/10/13. Raiding a bird feeder at 5:20 pm.
Tried to send a message but it didn’t go. We had a lone female (I think) last week in Evergreen, CO. 30 miles west of Denver at 7,200 feet. We’ve been here 16 years and have never seen one at our house. We have seen them in Golden, CO 15 miles east, nearer to Denver. Will keep you posted.
Bette Carcano
The cursed things are taking over from the mourning doves in the agricultural area (Churchill County Nevada) East of Reno 60 miles. Such terrible sounding birds ! Even when mating season is over. Sometime I have to go inside just to avoid hearing them !
So what’s going to be the solution to the problem – it’s going to get worse, not better ?
Anybody out there in lovely-land have an answer?
K. L. Smith
Didn’t pay a lot of attention to these birds until the local newspaper printed an article in its agriculture section on this invasive species. We love hearing the mourning doves here in central Idaho. I have noticed a few pair over the last 3 years or so. Listened to one calling for the last 2 days. I positively identified it and had my son shoot it. I see it as doing my part for the native species.
We have spotted these doves in Perkinston Ms.
Plentiful in SW Mo
DO YOU KNOW WHERE THIS BIRD NESTS – IN TREES OR ON THE GROUND?
THEY ARE JUST MATING NOW IN WEST NEVADA, AND I WANT TO WATCH FOR NESTS.
They tend to nest primarily around human habitation, usually in trees but occasionally on buildings. Good luck in searching for nests!
I saw a picture of a pair that nested under a roof some time back but do have a pair nesting in my pine tree.
I saw on the news when they were talking about the Indy 500 one of the race cars had hit what they called a pigeon but if you look close it was an ECD so they are very where.
I have watched the expansion of ECD in northern Utah and southeastern Idaho for the last seven years. Numbers fluctuate and seem to have stabilized in many areas. It has been interesting to note that I haven’t seen them above 6000 feet. Have others observed populations above this elevation?.
Bryce Nielson makes an interesting point in that he never see ECD’s above 6,000 ft. During the past several years I have bike the mountain west and desert southwest, including major national parks and monuments, and if my memory serves me correctly I saw many in the valleys and lower elevations, but never in the higher elevations, such as Yellowstone and Glacier NP’s.
Could? there be something to this, I ask the wildlife biologists
I’m no wild life biologist but have a spent a few nights at the Holiday Inn and have spent endless hours watching them. The thing that keeps these guys going is their ability to adapt to a new involvement. It is not only the ECD but any birds and all wild life..I have inherited a bunch of squirrels trying to attract the ECD over the years. and what both species have in common is they watch what animals around them do then emulate them. I started feeding my squirrels peanuts and it was long before both the wood peckers and blue jays caught on to the game and started eating them. Birds and animals are amazing if you will only take the time to watch them. All it takes is one Einstein in a group to discover something and the others will follow.
We live about 20 miles south of Seattle, WA. About a month ago we saw the first ECD at our feeder. The local population has dramatically increased so that this – the last week of May 2013 – we have up to 14 that make several visits a day to our yard. I believe they are nesting in a very tall cottonwood tree two houses down – about 60-70 feet above ground.
We are 18 miles NW of Seattle. We had a few pair of ECD last year, but we have bigger, fatter ones this year. They seem to co-exist well with the Band Tailed pigeons and Mourning Doves
I heard the familiar sound in Wells, UK last week and saw an ECD there.
I’ve been watching a pair at my birdfeeder and thought they must be a variety of the Mourning Doves since I couldn’t find them in either of my bird books. Glad to see they are a new species to the USA
. I live in Albuquerque, NM.
I live in western rocky mountains, ECDs were rare 5 years ago, I’d see a couple every week, now they are thick especially in feed lot and farming areas. Over the last weekend, I counted hundreds of ECDs scattered throughout our local small towns. The good news is, I also counted several dozen mourning doves. The ECD like to live in town, they mix on the edges of town, and I only see mourning doves outside of town in more desert high alpine steppe terrain. The ECDs gravitate towards big cottonwood trees, while the mourning tend to stay closer to the scrub oak and juniper trees. Our state wants them gone, so I have obliged wildlife officials by shooting and eating several hundred of these over the past few years. They have 2x the meat as mourning doves do and taste very good. I am now to a point when I hope they keep reproducing, the more birds, the more off season hunting sportsmen get to do. My observations have been they breed, feed, and nest where mourning doves won’t in towns, I think they are a good addition to the ecosystem, looks like they are here to stay and keep my shotgun barrel warm for many years to come.
I live in Kitwanga British Columbia where these distinct creatures have arrived for the first time to my property! I find them quite intrusive since the natural bird songs are more natural or passive to listen to.
What color are the eggs?
The nests are not very accessible. I will have to think about how I might find the. Answer to that question. suggestions? what does the egg colour signify?
I know mourning dove eggs are white. Have been finding light blue eggs about the same size. Too large for robin but not sure it would be the collared
I’ll watch for that. Thanks.
I live in southern Saskatchewan, Can. First saw these in Dec, 2012. They caught my eye because mourning doves leave this area in early September. Winter was extremely long with heavy snow coming in early November and not leaving until May but somehow they survived. Now there are many nesting in the area. While last year was a record winter for snowfall, it was not for cold with -30 F being the coldest. Still I am amazed that they were able to survive and now seem to be flourishing.
I’m in Eureka, CA, located on the coast about 90 miles S of the Oregon border. Just recently I’ve noticed one visiting my backyard eating seed from underneath the feeders. I have a flock of Mourning Doves and some Band-tailed pigeons, so when I first spotted it I thought it was different and snapped a couple of photos for my records. After reading this post, I pulled up the pictures and sure enough, it’s a Eurasian Collared-Dove. I don’t know where it nests. I live in a suburb next to a forested area composed of Douglas Fir and Redwood trees with fairly mild weather year-round.
Just speaking with a friend in Port Alberni, BC today and they have them. I have them here in San Tan Valley, Arizona also.
There aren’t that many trees around here compared to some regions. This is desert. temperature ranges from 10 degree to 122 degrees.
I have wonderful Ring Neck White doves, ZuLu and Zena that came when I was recovering from some cancer surgery…. so I followed them each day with a camera…. started reading up on them…. They laid eggs over and over again and I now on last count had 10 additions to my Z family. They are so very sweet and beautiful! I have many many more Mourning Doves and they are equally sweet and less skittish although the baby ring necks are quite comfortable as well. We live in Pt Loma and have in addition to many regular birds, have a flock of wild Parrots that live in our palm trees… literally 100’s of them and they are beautiful but loud. the doves coo and sound softly sweet. I love them! I have hundreds of photos and they are very comfortable and hang out all day every day on our deck.
I used to live in Pt Loma on Rosecrans overlooking Shelter Island. I used to see many Western Tanagers in the high treetops. Do you still see them around? I’m up in the Puget Sound area now and don’t ever see them.
Hi Chris!
I’ve only seem the Western Tanagers, once here in Pt Loma around our home, now they probably are in other areas still. We are near where you lived at Rosecrans and Willow… top the hill looking towards Downtown and we can walk to Shelter Island. We are very blessed with so many beautiful birds! It’s amazing! A hawk just got one of my doves though this weekend… I got great photos of the hawk…all the neighbor men love the photos and us women are sad for the poor sweet dove. I posted some on my FB page if you are interested. https://www.facebook.com/cassgreenephotography, say hello if you stop by there! We want to move up to the Eureka area in a couple of years…. Pt Loma is the prettiest all around everything place I’ve ever lived so I know I will miss it…. do you like it up there?
I have them taking over my yard.. I have been feeding my gold finches and purple finches for years.. we have had a single pair of mourning doves for the past 6 years every year too.. now they( Asian doves)are taking over.. we have so many this year they have even pushed our yearly ducks away.. Im not certain but it looks like they may be mating with the mourning doves… I cant prove it yet but they are showing up in our yard together.frustrated
ohh and as far as climate. I live in yakima washington just outside of the city. our climate is varied from super hot and dry up to 110 or more in summer to ice and snow in winter can get very cold.
Ive Just been able to read some posts on here. And I have to say although the Asian Doves are very pretty.. they are taking over. I have watched them bully other birds out of the feeders even from the ground getting seed that has fallen. they will hover like almost in a standing position they look huge when they do this and they are above other birds flapping their wings until they leave. They also destroy the other nests in our yard and we have many. I have seen many dead baby birds just so small not even a feather yet next to a destroyed nest. I dont like that. If they were not so aggressive I wouldnt mind them but im thinking I know whats for dinner once a week from now on. Since there is no law on them or limit to them according to the Washington state dept fish and wildlife we checked on this!
We’ve got to do something about this terrible bird, and its’ invasion of our Country. There is only one governmental agency big enough, with the necessary resources, and that is the Federal Dept. of Fish and Game. (actual name ??) They’ve done nothing so far (to my knowldege) So as usual, we got to put the heat on them to do something other than sit on their hands and do nothing.
I don’t know the answer for population control, but I’m sure there is one somewhere in some scientist’s files. Come-on Feds, let’s get going.
Lee Smith
To K smith; First of all I think the feds have enough on their hands and since the passing of the Reed’s Stevens bill the states are the ones who determines what happens to the birds..From what I have seen of the ECD they are no different than any feral bird and rely on humans to feed them. If you want them to go away, stop feeding them. Our state does allow hunters to shoot the birds during dove season but seldom do because these birds seldom leave the cities and towns.Now I’m not saying this will not change but it seldom happens with any other feral birds.
These birds seem to co-exist well with other birds…but they do look big enough to be tasty. However, if we want to eradicate a bird species, let’s start with the Starlings. They do far more damage.
Ronald, since the buggers appear to inhabit every state in the nation, it’s a national problem to solve, not up to the states. Can you imagine how long it would take all 50 states to agree with each other as to a solution?. And I’ve never known a federal agency that truly had more on its’ hands than it could handle?
Also Ronald, I don’t feed the birds, and I don’t know anybody in Nevada that does. So that is not a solution either.
K. L. Smith
It has been interesting to watch the attitudes of birders change over the last four years from love to hate concerning ECD. As a biologist, I have observed population dynamics in northern Utah and southeastern Idaho. All invasive species, from plants to animals, follow a similar pattern with populations starting slowly, then booming and finally stabilizing. Our landscape is covered with invasives from the past. ECD are associated with trees, human feed sources and elevations less than 6000′. The populations in my area have boomed and are now stabilized. We do not want the Fed’s or the State’s involved. Just observe natural colonization and support the hunters who take a few. If you really hate them cut down your trees and quit feeding birds. Come on folks, “they are doves, a symbol of love and peace”.
Every time a new species of bird or animal is introduced into our land it is a roll of the dice on how it will be excepted. Pheasants for example were introduced years ago to north America and now contribute to add a lot of states’ income. They do not migrate but they can and do cross borders into bordering states but still is controlled by the state not the federal government. For years I suspected that the ECD could possibly be something that was spreading the West Nile virus since both the bird and virus came from the same area. I have been told that this is not the case but this is something that happens when new species are introduced into a new environment. Some times it is a plus and other times it is disaster with both plant an animals.. I have been watching them daily for about five years and I see none of the reports of the birds having any of the problems that others are seeing. They feed side by side with other birds and unless the other birds get to close to them when they are feeding pay little attention to them. The birds will not feed from the feeders but feed from the ground under the feeders.
Yours is not the first I read of a similar concern of the ECD’s invasiveness. I personally do not mind them being here except to the extent of driving off previously existing species. To that end, I will agree that something must be done.
I read in the DOVE Sportsman’s Society magazine published by Quail Unlimited around the turn of the century/millennium that the Argentinian government was inviting the American sportsmen to fly there only with their boxed shotguns to embark on dusk to dark, seven days per week dove shoot. The only limit imposed was the shooters’ stamina. The government provided the ammunition as transporting shot shells via commercial airline is restricted. Besides, the weight of shot shell cases would make the shipping costs prohibitive.
The reason for this “shootfest” was that the dove populations had increased so much to the point that they would strip the sorghum fields of all the grain causing the cattle to suffer malnutrition if not starvation thereby forcing the rancher to take the cattle to early market at a much lesser weight.
The government dared not have the birds chemically exterminated due to residual extermination of other animal species that needed to be protected. Instead, they decided to have unlimited dove shoots to thin out the populations.
I do not know what the response was as far as participation from the American Sportsmen is concerned, but I am certain that the Argentinian government succeeded somehow in protecting its valuable beef commodity from the dove that they considered as a pest and nuisance. I am certain that if this wholesale hunting was a success, it surely must have been a wholesale slaughter that the animal rights activists would never allow to take place here in the States.
Nothing was wasted, as at the end of the day the birds were taken to town and donated to the citizens who were quite willing themselves to breast the birds to serve for supper. When I was raised in the Rio Grande Valley in deep South Texas the annual season for White Wing Dove that migrated from Mexico was Labor Day weekend and the weekend following where one could shoot about a dozen of these along with another dozen or so of Mourning Doves. We kept all of the bird except the back, and used the legs and wings as snack food while the main course was still on the grill. It was a culture shock to me later in life after a Mourning Dove shoot in Mississippi to witness the birds “breasted” with the legs and wings discarded with the rest of the bird. I thought that this wasteful practice was abominable! However, the extensive numbers of birds harvested daily with dozens of shooters on hand reaching their limits by midday forced the cleaning process to take shortcuts only for the sake of time management.
Now, I can only imagine the cleaning process that the citizens had to adopt to clean thousands of birds daily in Argentina to get the job done by midnight, for example. Moreover, as I may have implied in the beginning that this unlimited shooting season was year around, I must qualify this to assert that the season is the same as that of the sorghum grain’s growing season, as I am sure that the flocks move on after the grain is gone either due to timely harvest or premature decimation by the birds.
I explain all this aforementioned as I am certain that our federal government’s wildlife department would allow a similar practice if the ECD populations became too thick here, as well. It is an issue to keep in mind, I assure you, as we need to watch this closely and check the population balances between each associated species, i.e: the Mourners, Turtles, WW’s, etc.
So far, down here in Louisiana and Texas there has been no season nor limits imposed upon us in shooting the ECD’s. The local game wardens tell me to “shoot away” to my heart’s content. Sounds good to me. Am glad you wrote.
Philip Mayeux
Central Louisiana
I have to agree with doves chased away all the birds that used to come except the blackbirds and starlings . Now they’re fighting them for dominance. Guess ill take down my birdfeeders
We have 10 of these gorgeous birds in our neighbourhood in Keremeos, British Columbia: Interior of B.C.
Mona, they are stunningly beautiful….I have 10 of them in San Diego CA and I have even more Mourning Doves…. they all get along just fine… they hang out all day together.
Dear Mona,
They are gorgeous to look at, but horrific to have to listen to. Terrible screeching loud-mouths ! And in time they will crowd-out the other species that you love to look at!
All I have left HERE are sparrows and a few Robins. With a very few Mourning Doves. WHAT IS THE NATURAL PREDATOR ? IF THEY HAVE ANY? DOES ANYONE READING THIS KNOW THE ANSWER?
Their natural predator are raptors and humans. Crows and magpies will prey on the nest.
Yep, I just had a hawk get one this week. But I have had no negative experience with the ring neck doves. They get along with all the other birds, particularly the Mourning Doves, Pigeons and House Wrens which I have a lot of. I have not noticed any fighting among them or bully nature, and I was laid up with cancer for 4 months watching them endless hours. I have no shortage of birds coming to my feeders. I have crow and blue jays which are quite loud and obnoxious … but nothing like the flock of 100’s of Parrots that screeching of 100 parrots … they truly do sound horrible but are huge green and everyone loves them… pretty much cause it’s so amazing to see. My BlueJay is also a loud bird but the doves DOVE-COO …. the Mourning Doves and Ring Necks. My feeders are on a rather large deck which is up in the trees so we have a bird’s eye view of them all day long and love them ALL here and they all get along…maybe it’s the always perfect weather but my feeders are always full of all kinds! Over the last 3-4 years The neighbors have all put up feeders too cause we all enjoy the abundance of birds in our neighborhood!
My two cents with respect to doves and West Nile virus. First, West Nile virus arrived in my area a decade before the ECD. We had a very serious human West Nile outbreak in my area 8-9 years ago. I first saw the ECD in Dec, 2012. Dove populations in general in my area have grown tremendously in recent years. I believe this due to the elimination of crows and magpie as summer inhabitants both potentially serious nest predators of doves. Crows are occasionally seen as spring/fall migrants but are not present during the dove nesting period. I believe West Nile virus is responsible for the elimination of the crows and magpies in my area.
Another interesting twist is that magpies are no longer present and have been replaced in winter by ravens, which were certainly not present in my area 10-20 years ago. I do not believe the ravens are nesting but migrate here in winter. It is not uncommon to see a dozen or more ravens in winter on a road or winter killed deer carcass. Again raven were not present here in the past.
Any bird can get and transmit the virus but like any foreign disease with humans or animals there have not been a tolerance for it. When Europeans first came to this country a lot of whole Indian tribes disappeared. These diseases made Europeans sick but did not kill them but this was not the case with Native Americans. My reasoning was that the ECD could have possibly been a carrier but CDC assured me that it was the case.
Come on people. Quit vilifying these birds. They are doves, not Corvadie. They pose no threat to humans. Pigeons are far worse. Adapt………..
No threat to Humans, you say, Bryce ? They are a threat to my sanity with their terrible noise – especially during breeding season. That screeching runs me in doors sometimes. I say death to all of the Eurasians and death to all pigeons, too.
We have been able to keep pigeons out of my neighborhood with our trusty pellet guns. But can’t make a dent in the ECD population. The ECD’s multiply like they were humans !
K.L.
I was looking forward to more ECD hunting in the valley with my 20 guage. Unfortunately were there were 100’s two years ago there are few now. The rancher cut down the row of pine trees. The valley floor is 5900′ and I am at 6800′ No ECD at my feeders.
Hope my comments weren’t misinterpreted. I think the birds are fascinating. Will be interesting to see if the population grows. My comments on West Nile were not to link ECD with the disease. I don’t believe there is any. We had the disease long before the ECD. I certainly wish the ECD had arrived first. However, because of West Nile’s effect on the crow and magpie population, important nest predators of doves, we now have more doves in my area by at least a factor of 10 that we have ever had.
I live on the Olympic Pensula in the far northwest corner of the U.S., in Port Angeles (Clallam Co.), Washington. Eurasian Collared Doves have been in Port Angeles for 5-10 years now, but only in our own neighborhood in the foothills above P.A. and back from the coast (elev. 700 ft.) for the first time this summer. On two occasions at different locations about 1/4 mile apart I’ve observed a pair of these birds flying by me as I drove along the road just below our home.
I posted a while back about these birds.. but this year they have triples and last night they were running off our quail parents and babies.. we live just at the foot of a hill in terrace heights ( part of Yakima toward moxee) and we are a fairly populated area but we have coyotes , deer, racoons,eagles, owls,foxes,possums, and lots of skunks now .. just trying to get the picture we are more in the country and we have had quail for years and lots of them I haven’t seen hardly any then when i saw these Asian doves running them off im wondering if that is why they are no longer around here.?
7/17/13
Report from near Reno, Nevada
EARLY THIS MORNING I WATCHED ONE OF A PAIR TRASH A HUMMING BIRD NEST IN A LITTLE TREE IN MY YARD. I ASSUME THEY WERE AFTER EGGS ? I DIDN’T KNOW THEY ARE NEST-RAIDERS ? OR COULD IT BE TERRITORIAL BEHAVIOR ?
They have destroyed many nests in our yard goldfinch.. robin.. purple finch.and starlings weve watched them..
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I am at-a-loss to know what the world can do to protect ourselves, and our bird-friends, from this onslot ? The needed solution will be so huge that only the government can handle it. Yet, we all know how long it takes the government to do something about a new threat !!! By then, I’m afraid many bird species will have been destroyed.
Who out there can offer another solution to the government?
Once again the government is not the solution. I know of no example where their efforts have stopped an invasive species. Be patient, ECD numbers will peak and then drop and stabilize. Their impact will then be absorbed into the ecosystem. It is the way the natural world is.
I live in Mandan ND, suburb on the nw part of the city. We have had what we just found out were “Eurasian Ringneck” doves, and not morning doves, for about four years – a lot of them. They love the 30 year old black and blue spruce trees. First noticed them about 2008-2009. We have several pairs, and wake every morning, and go to sleep every night to their cooing. Love them. They overwinter here. I counted more than 20 of them flocked in one tree every day in mid winter – every year. They are here year round.
They are everywhere in this neighborhood now. We seem to be fine for robins. They don’t seem to intimidate the grackles, which I hate, but which leave in mid summer after nesting.
I live in Sitka, Alaska. In late May or early June I was awoken every AM and listened to this incessant call until late at night. I was sure it was a bird but couldn’t imagine what kind. Finally found it on my Peterson’s app. Recently learned there were about 30 in the area. I wonder if that number is changing because I am now not just hearing them but seeing them regularly. They are really pretty and I am accustomed to the noise, however I wish the eagles much luck!
Unfortunately Salty, eagles do not seem to take much interest in Eurasian Collared Doves. We have a lot of Bald Eagles around us and they quite ignore anything smaller than a duck. But then, we have a lot of fish, their preferred feeding, as well. You likely do too.
I live on a island in the middle of Biscayne Bay, between Miami and Miami Beach. There is a park in the middle, high rise condos on the south side, cottages on the north along with a motel / restaurant. The vegetation is mostly palm trees, small live oaks, and banyans with huge canopies. The park has a large, closely cropped lawn at its center. Save for the motel, there is very little human-generated food lying about.
We had a major surge of Asian Collared Doves about three years ago. The doves were almost pigeon-like in their behavior around humans, some allowing you to get up to a foot away. Many in recent years have also taken on a creamy, slightly greenish cast, not the usual grey. (Sub-speciation about to emerge?) Now, in just a few months time, the population is all but gone, along with a crash in the House Sparrow population. At the same time, I’ve seen the establishment of a new, and noisy Monk Parakeet colony. The old one decamped to another island after Katrina and WIlma in 2005. I’m also seeing many more Northern Mockingbird pairs (very aggressive and now breeding from March through July, not just in May, as the old population used to do), and, on the lawn, Starlings and Boat Tailed Grackels.
I’m wondering if the parakeets have driven the doves and sparrows out. Maybe it is the Mockingbirds, who are breeding for a much longer period and, consequently, are aggressive. I’ve seen them chase off doves. We’ve also had some major condo refurbishment projects and a bridge repair project end (fewer workers eating lunch outside and no food trucks?).
In any event, for those worried about ACD surges, at least here, they have moved on.
I live in Ladner, British Columbia. We have had Eurasian Collared Doves around us for over six years now. Before they arrived we always had a few native Mourning Doves near us. Sad to say, since the Eurasian Collared Doves arrived, we no longer see any Mourning Doves. Now we have far more Eurasian Collared Doves around than ever there were Mourning Doves. They actually are quite charming, much more so than Rock Doves, but I certainly miss our Mourning Doves.
We recently moved to Hidden Valley Lake, about a 2 hour drive North of San Francisco. Near Clearlake if anyone is familiar with that area. Anyway, We have a big pine tree about 15 ft from our back deck. I spied the nest and have been watching it everyday. I couldn’t figure out what they were. I thought they were Doves of some sort? Finally googled until I came across the Eurasian Collared Dove. Yep, that was it. There are a lot of them around here and I constantly hear the Koo koo sound. Anyway, the nest is 30 ft above ground and a next door cat is always in the area ( a large vacant lot next to our house). The babies are about ready to leave the nest and I was wondering if they will be on the ground for a couple of days before they can fly and seek safety from this cat, that wants to have them for lunch.
I can’t find anything on-line that lets me know what happens when they first leave the nest…ie can they fly? They seem big to me, and ready to fly? I know that is not usually the case. Does anyone know?
Anyway, I don’t find them noisy …and the fledglings are very quiet in there nest. The don’t take there eyes off me when I come to observe them. But they are not very scared either. There are plenty of other birds around here, but I don’t see any aggressive behavior toward them.
Thanks, Diane
Hi Diane,
Most fledglings do spend some time on the ground following their parents before flying off on their own. It’s easier to find cover there while they’re gaining confidence with their flight skills.
Regardless of the success of the nest, I would encourage you to monitor it through NestWatch. The success or failure of the fledglings is valuable scientific data! Se our blog post about it here: https://projectfeederwatch.wordpress.com/2013/06/13/help-monitor-eurasian-collared-dove-nests-with-nestwatch/
Nor have I ever seen aggressive behaviour to other birds among the Eurasian Collared Doves around me. They seem quite peaceable, yet our native Mourning Doves all disappeared when the Eurasian Collared Doves arrived here. Do you have any Mourning Doves there, in Hidden Valley?
Hi Ted, I have only been here about a year and previously lived in an area of less trees. Just recently moved up to a hill/more tree area and now seeing many more birds. I have not noticed any Mourning Doves, but now that you mention it, I am going to pay more attention and see if there are any around here. While observing the nest near my deck, I have not spotted any birds of prey. When I lived in Santa Rosa,CA ( about an hour from here) Large Crows were the culprit in targeting the fledglings on the ground. They would stalk my backyard. In terms of aggression by the Doves, there are plenty of other birds, mostly smaller than the Doves, flying around, landing in the pine ( with the nest), picking seeds off the ground, but there doesn’t seem to be any concern or aggression toward any of them from the parent Doves. The nest is in clear view and every morning I go check to see them, as well as throughout the day. I am also trying to scare the heck out of any cats lurking around. I am on a mission, to see if I can help them make it through those 3 or 4 days on the ground after they leave the nest. I have many photo’s of the birds in the nest, as my camera is good at close ups. I used to laugh, thinking about people being bird watchers. Now I am as nutty as they are 🙂
Diane
Yes Diane,
Much the same here. Our feeder gets frequented by House Finches, Goldfinches, Siskins, White Crowned Sparrows, etc. and the Eurasian Collared Doves do not bother them at all. If the doves are on the feeder the smaller birds stay away but, conversely, if the smaller birds are on the feeder, the doves wait until they leave and make no effort to drive them away. Although I do not know the location of any nests, we have a resident pair here at our home that are charmingly devoted to each other. There must be four or five more pairs within a two block radius of us, south, west, and north (east is a school field with no trees so they are never there), from all the calling we hear around us. I do not know what the interaction between Eurasian Collared Doves and Mourning Doves might be, just that our neighbourhood Mourning Doves disappeared six years ago when the Eurasian Collared Doves arrived and I have not seen any since. I simply miss our Mourning Doves.
If you broadcast corn on the ground which is a lot cheaper than bird seen the ECD will favor it over small bird seed. I have been watching them for over 5 years now and never see any conflict between. the ECD and any other birds including morning doves.
No Ron,
I won’t ground feed any birds. That attracts undesired species. I feed black oil sunflower seeds and a little nyjer only (and some peanuts for the Steller’s Jays) to focus attraction on finches and native sparrows. The Eurasian Collared Doves take the sunflower seeds but not with the enthusiasm of the finches.
You are so lucky if you still have Mourning Doves around you. I really miss ours.
I believe there is a miss conception on the influence that ECD have with morning doves. I have been watching them pretty much constantly for 5 years now and see no interaction between the two.If there is it is because the ECD may get to close to them and the morning dove is the one that will raise it’s wings in a treating motion. You have to remember that most morning doves are a native species and have learn to feed off of natural feed. The ECD like the pigeons rely on humans to feed them. Now if you have morning doves coming to your feeders it is because they have learned to do that.and teach it to their young as well.I assure you more hunters will kill more morning doves than the ECD do.
I have to say…. Not around here. I am a hunter myself. And my dad owns a hunting/fishing lodge in the upper state . Ive heard from him and many hunters alike. The ECD is much bigger.. its not protected by the wsdfw as are mourning doves. I HAVE seen the ECD run other birds off actually all my other birds except the finches so far. At the first of spring i had tons of morning doves..robins…sparrows…i have finches and ECD. I have watched them destroy nests of others and bully other birds away. Sooo id rather shoot the non protected bully ECD. More meat anyway and no limit! And that is the consensus for most hunters i know… At first i thought they were ok…. Until the ran out my birds i feed every year.. even my quail are gone…. Which they ran off too.. my oldest son (22) watched a ECD open wings and flap on the ground to scare a family away even the babies
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If they are scaring your robins off of your feeders you have some pretty special robins because back here in Kansas robins don’t come to feeders, they eat worms and berries. 8^).
Yep the robins do eat from out feeders they do however perfer to steal dry catfood or dogfood which only the starlings like.
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No Ron,
When they were here, Mourning Doves never came to our feeder. They were just a pleasant presence in our neighbourhood that I miss since the Eurasian Collared Doves arrived. I think you are very lucky to still have Mourning Doves around you and hope they stay.
RON, Misconception? Really? Umm not a stupid person here.. I have been watching birds for many many years.. and at my home for 8 years as that is how long we have lived here… I mean I’m smart enough to have a college degree and work as a trauma nurse for over 15 years… I think i can see with my own two eyes what I’m watching happen in my own yard! The ECDs we have are aggressive toward our mourning doves and others we have around. There are NO robins.. starlings.. or swallows at all… Every year give had a rescue where i will take in and hand feed babies strayed or fallen from nest from wind ( not babies big enough to be learning on own, but no feather babies). And every year I’ve had about 7.. i didn’t have a single one this year.. and there just aren’t any nests except the ones on the ground first year I’ve counted this many 14. We have found on ground. Even years we have had bad storms we normally only find 1-3 nests… As I’ve seen an ECD destroy a nest i have to wonder if this is something they are now part of. There is no misconception here. I watch birds everyday here… If it continues this way the only bird i will have is the ECD.. i guess that will feed our family well but I’d rather have my usual birds I’ve always had….
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After I wrote my response this morning, and a few other morning tasks I went out to look at the nest again ( which both birds were nesting in, as usual earlier this morning). But lo and behold the nest was empty. My first thought was that they were on the ground and I looked immediately down below, as well as fearful the neighbors cat had spied them. I couldn’t see them anywhere. However, on a branch about 20 ft across from their nest, on the other side of tree ( even closer to my deck) I saw one of them after about 10 minutes looking. Since the babies had been more used to me coming out and watching them, this little one just hung out looking back at me. I did not see the other one anywhere and was very concerned about the second little ones fate. About a half hour later I saw the second one right next to the one already on the branch. I know it wasn’t near it before? Anyway, both babies have been there all day, with the parents coming back and forth ( the parents are much more skittish of my presence than the fledglings.) In the last hour or so I have seen then move up in the pine tree, by fluttering their wings. They have never been on the ground. I really thought from my reading, and someone here mentioned, that they are sometimes pushed from the nest ( they seemed just small versions of the parents) and then fed on the ground/taught to pick seeds etc etc until they can fly on their own. ( Which I have observed before in many other birds) But these two are already practicing flying/flapping wings from branch to branch ( but still in a 6 or 7 ft radious in the tree). I wonder if they still have to land on the ground, or this is how they are learning to fly and will not have to take cover on any ground ( and hence…. won’t be eaten by the dang’ cat) So, I am surprised, as I was fully expecting to fend off any danger that was lurking on the ground.
Thanks for getting back to me….all of the comments are very interesting on this website. I appreciate the feedback. Sorry I don’t know all the bird terminology.
Anyway, just excited about the Doves being sage ( for now anyway).
Diane
I have 3 ECD’s that hang around my house in Molalla Oregon. I kinda had to laugh a few days ago. I’m not sure what was going on but one of the dove’s was chasing a crow…it went on for several minutes. They would land in an oak tree just a few feet apart, sit there for several seconds, then it would start all over again….until 2 more crows showed up! It eventually quieted down and I wondered if there were babies somewhere nearby. Thing is, I THINK, it was the lone dove and not one of the pair. Anyway, it was funny seeing the much smaller bird chasing a big, obnoxious crow.
Lots of these around Houston Tx. More all the time.
And I am seeing fewer white wing doves. Are they inbreeding? are they pushing white wing doves out of habitat?
I thought we were undergoing a population explosion of owls, oddly hooting throughout the day, due to a large feral rabbit population. However, it appears to be the cooing of Collared Eurasian Doves, not hoots. I’m on the eastern side of Vancouver Island, in Black Creek, B.C. Canada.
That is, Eurasian Collared Doves.
I absolutely agree with comment by C.A. Hilland and Diane. Owls. That is how peculiar they sound in my environment also. in Northern BC we have many bird sounds which are as natural as a breeze, and the ECD is not one of them. It is very similar to the lonely night calling of an I partnered owl. Until they find their mate, no one rests. The ECD on the other hand, is the loudest and most obtrusive of birds by day. I don’t welcome them at all!
I hear those sounds as well, and at first thought they were owls making those sounds too. I have written an earlier post here, about having a nest right next to my deck ( which is about 20 ft above ground) With a huge pine tree right next to it , with sparse branches, so I was able to observe the nest easily. I enjoyed watching the whole process. The baby doves went from the nest to the nearby branches ( never on the ground) and then after about 5 days, they flew away. About a week to 10 days later, I saw the ‘parents’ back re-furbishing the nest, and then one or the other laying on the nest. I was excited to watch it all again, but my husband moved our big boat very close to the tree, and then the large overhead fan on the deck was turned on. This happened about a day or two ago, and it must have scared them and now they are gone. Dang’ it. I assume the Eurasian Collared Dove is fairly prolific and have read it can repeat the process many times over all through the summer months. ( We have plenty of Sunshine late into the season in this particular area of Northern California). In terms of the aggression many seem to see, I have not noticed any. There seems to be many other birds around and in close proximity without any problems.
Diane
Sorry for the auto correct. I meant to say unpartnered owls.
Terri
Here in Southern Colorado, they are truly invasive. In Pueblo West, you can not escape their cooing all day long. You can get on the golf course at 8:00 AM and continually hear them without a break for 4 hours. Thank goodness there is no season and no limit on harvesting them. The only problem is that they just stay in populated areas where there are typically laws prohibiting discharging of firearms. As noted in an earlier article, they tend to nest within 1 KM of towns.
We hunted them last Sunday near Rocky Ford CO and only got 5. But we’ll harvest some more when the Mourning Dove Season opens on Sept. 1.
For once, the Colorado DOW is using some common sense with their rules to try and minimize the invasiveness of this species.
Where can I send pictures to in order to have someone verify this is what I actually have in my yard right now. I had 4 of them and this was the first time they’ve been here this year.
C Chapman, Bonney Lake, WA
You can send bird ID photos to cornellbirds @ cornell . edu
I live in El Cajon CA, just outside of San Diego, and I seen a pair just recently. Caught my eye as I have Mourning Doves and noticed the difference. Look them up and indeed they are the Eurasian Collared Dove. Pretty bird.
You are so lucky to still have Mourning Doves. Ours have long disappeared since the ECDs arrived.
This year , I saw the first pair of ECD, A beautiful, sight.I live in Courtenay B.C. on Vancouver Island. That was in early May 2013.they have fed at my feeders, and off the ground also off the floor of my deck . They seem very peaceful and make no attempt to bully the regular birds. It is end of August and our flock have grown to 6 . there seem to be a large flock in around the city this year .
How many Mourning Doves do you still have near you in Courtenay? We have had none ever since the ECDs arrived in Ladner years ago.
Have been watching one Eurasian Collared Dove in my backyard in Tucson, AZ for the past several weeks. We have been here for 10 years and this is the first I have seen him.
He keeps to himself, seems to be observing!
There are great numbers of White winged and Mourning doves (at least 20 at a time), multiple species ofwrens, sparrows,and finches, a mated pair of Western Tanagers, Gambel Quail families, cardinals,and what I call western cardinals(’cause I can’t remember the technical name LOL…pyro something) The ECD is not pushy or in any way aggressive, and I have just seen the one ( or, one at a time, anyway).
You are so lucky to still have Mourning Doves.
I live in Huntington Beach, California, and saw these birds for the first time a little over a month ago. They’ve been eating our chickens’ food, and I haven’t seen the usual mourning doves since.
Clarie, keep in mind that the worst thing we can do is to get any of our native
wild life use to being fed by humans. Feral birds like pigeons, English sparrows visit feeders because they have never learned to live off of natural feed and that is why you seldom see them in the wild,.
We have them here on Vancouver Island now. I never noticed them until last year and now this year they seem to be everywhere.