Mourning Dove Turtle Dove Mourning Dove Collared Dove
Its tail is long and tapered macroura comes from the greek words for large and tail mourning doves have perching feet with three toes forward and one reversed.
Mourning dove turtle dove mourning dove collared dove. Collared dove is one of our most familiar species despite only arriving naturally in the country relatively recently but how can you confidently separate it from the similar but much rarer turtle dove. It is a mostly sedentary bird found in a variety of open habitats. With a flash of white tail feathers and a flurry of dark tipped wings the eurasian collared dove settles onto phone wires and fence posts to give its rhythmic three parted coo. Adults feed on cereal and wildflower seeds but feed their young pigeon milk a regurgitated milky substance from a food storage organ called a crop.
This chunky relative of the mourning dove gets its name from the black half collar at the nape of the neck. If they are nesting underneath the roof of a house perch on a balcony or just feed in the garden there are a range of measures that can be taken to stop them. The mourning dove is a medium sized slender dove approximately 31 cm 12 in in length. Doves may not be as much of a pest as pigeons but constant cooing and bird droppings can be annoying and hazardous to people s health.
Less colourful than the turtle dove it also sounds different. Bto bird identification videos are supported by natureguides. It breeds in woodlands orchards and well wooded parks mainly in the warmer drier south and east of the uk. Mourning doves weigh 112 170 g 4 0 6 0 oz usually closer to 128 g 4 5 oz.
The turtle dove is a small pigeon just a little bit smaller than collared dove. It makes a familiar hoo hoooo hoo sound while the turtle dove has a purring turrr turrr turr song. The elliptical wings are broad and the head is rounded. A medium sized dove.
Within range its penetrating and rhythmic three syllabled crooning is a familiar sound at any time of the year. Natureguides kindly provide species video clips for our bird identification. These doves are easily identified by their long tapered tails soft gray plumage and spots on the wings. The ring necked dove streptopelia capicola also known as the cape turtle dove or half collared dove is a widespread and often abundant dove species in east and southern africa.
The biggest difference between the two is that the mourning dove is a north american species common throughout the united states and parts of canada while the turtle dove is an old world species common in europe and russia wintering in africa. Mourning dove identification. A rather uniformly coloured pale grey bird with dark outer wing feathers. Best identified from its narrow black white edged bar across the side of its neck.