The Eurasian collared dove (Streptopelia decaocto), often simply just collared dove, is a dove species native to Europe, Asia, and northern Africa. It has also been introduced to Japan, North and Central America, and the islands in the Caribbean.
Taxonomy
The Hungarian naturalist Imre Frivaldszky first described the Eurasian collared dove with the scientific name Columba risoria varietas C. decaocto in 1838, considering it a wild variety of the domesticated barbary dove. The type locality is Plovdiv in Bulgaria.
The Burmese collared dove (S. xanthocycla) was formerly considered a subspecies of the Eurasian collared dove, but was split as a distinct species by the IOC in 2021. Two other subspecies were formerly sometimes accepted, S. d. stoliczkae from Turkestan in central Asia and S. d. intercedens from southern India and Sri Lanka; they are now considered junior synonyms of the species.
The Eurasian collared dove is also closely related to the Sunda collared dove of southeast Asia and the African collared dove of Sub-Saharan Africa, forming a superspecies with these.
Etymology
The generic name is from the Ancient Greek streptos meaning "collar" and peleia meaning "dove". The specific epithet, decaocto, is Greek for "eighteen". The association of the dove with the number eighteen has its roots in a Greek myth. A maid who worked hard for little money was unhappy that she was only paid 18 silver coins a year and begged the gods to let the world know how little she was rewarded by her mistress. Zeus, hearing her pleas, created the collared dove (or transformed the maid into the dove), which has called out "decaocto" ever since to tell the world of her mistreatment. In several Balkan languages, the number 18 is a three-syllable word (e.g. tiz-en-nyolc in Frivaldszky's native Hungarian), so is ultimately onomatopoeic from the bird's call.
As most of its European range in the 19th century, including its type locality, was within the Turkish-controlled Ottoman Empire, its name in many European languages translates as Turkish dove, e.g. Danish Tyrkerdue, German Türkentaube, French Tourterelle turque. from tip of beak to tip of tail, with a wingspan of , and a weight of . It is grey-buff to pinkish-grey overall, a little darker above than below, with a blue-grey underwing patch. The tail feathers are grey-buff above, and dark grey and tipped white below; the outer tail feathers are also tipped whitish above. It has a black half-collar edged with white on its nape from which it gets its name. The short legs are red and the bill is black. The iris is red, but from a distance the eyes appear to be black, as the pupil is relatively large and only a narrow rim of reddish-brown iris can be seen around the black pupil. The eye is surrounded by a small area of bare skin, which is either white or yellow. The two sexes are virtually indistinguishable; juveniles differ in having a poorly developed collar, and a brown iris. It has also reached Iceland as a vagrant (41 records up to 2006), but has not colonised successfully there.
Despite this spread, a population decline occurred in Britain from 2005, possibly caused by finch trichomonosis. By 2026, numbers had dropped by 40%.
Invasive status in North America
In 1974, fewer than 50 Eurasian collared doves escaped captivity in Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas. From the Bahamas, the species spread to Florida, and is now found in nearly every state in the U.S., as well as in Mexico. In Arkansas (the United States), the species was recorded first in 1989 and since then has grown in numbers and is now present in 42 of 75 counties in the state. It spread from the southeastern corner of the state in 1997 to the northwestern corner in five years, covering a distance of about at a rate of per year. This is more than double the rate of per year observed in Europe. As of 2012, few negative impacts have been demonstrated in Florida, where the species is most prolific. The species is often considered as an aggressive competitor to native birds and there is concern that as populations continue to grow, native species will be out-competed by the invaders.
Population growth has ceased in areas where the species has long been established, such as Florida, and in these regions, recent observations suggest the population is in decline. The population is still growing exponentially in areas of more recent introduction; up to 2015, the Eurasian collared dove experienced a greater than 1.5% yearly population increase throughout nearly the entirety of its North American range. Carrying capacities appear to be highest in areas with higher temperatures and intermediate levels of development, such as suburban areas and some agricultural areas.
While the spread of disease to native species has not been recorded in a study, Eurasian collared doves are known carriers of the parasite Trichomonas gallinae and pigeon paramyxovirus type 1.
The male's mating display is a ritual flight, which, as with many other pigeons, consists of a rapid, near-vertical climb to height followed by a long glide downward in a circle, with the wings held below the body in an inverted "V" shape. At all other times, flight is typically direct using fast and clipped wing beats and without use of gliding.