A frequent visitor to our Aldea backyard, the Eurasian Collared-Dove is a native of India and Sri Lanka and is also widespread in Europe. It was introduced to the Bahamas in the 1970s, spread to Florida in the 1980s, and has increased its range across much of the U.S., into extreme southern Canada and northern Mexico, though it is largely absent from the northeastern U.S. It is thought that it may be displacing native doves. It is a year-round resident of all of New Mexico.
The Eurasian Collared-Dove is a medium-sized dove, pale gray overall with a darker cinnamon-brown wash over its back. Neck is ringed with a half-black collar that does not extend to its throat. Wings are mottled gray. Tail is long, broad and edged with white. Male and female are similar. They have a beautiful dark red eye in the right light.
Frequently seen in all parts of Aldea, this May we have had a pair visiting our yard in search of water almost daily. They eat mostly seeds but forage on the ground and will pick berries off bushes. They tend to breed in bushes and shrubs.
For me, they have this unsettling way of silently observing what is going on in the yard before they land near water. They are very easily spooked and then leave in a flurry of their unique whipping-wing sound that makes for an interesting addition to all of the bird sounds and calls in Aldea.
A group of doves is known as “bevy”,”cote”, “dole”, “dule”, or “flight” of doves.
Click on photos to enlarge.
We have at least one, maybe more, of the Eurasion Collared-Doves at our feeders every day. We also have Mourning Doves and White Collared-Doves. There have been so many, in fact, that I placed a grid over one of our feeders. Wild Birds Unlimited carries these grids; they keep these larger birds from gobbling all the feed and prevent the big birds from pushing all the smaller ones away from the feeders.
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