European turtle dove

    Streptopelia turtur

Castilian: Tórtola europea

Catalan: Tórtora

Gallego: Rula común

Euskera: Usapala

CLASIFICACIÓN:

Orden: Columbiformes

Family: Columbidae

Migratory status: Summer resident

CONSERVATION STATUS:

In the 2004 edition of the Red Book of Spanish Birds (Libro Rojo de las Aves de España) it is listed as “Vulnerable”.

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THREATS

It is heavily affected by pressure from hunters during the autumn migration, in the closed season. Other factors to consider are the destruction of its wintering habitat due to drought and overgrazing in Africa, and that of its breeding habitat due to agricultural intensification.

Length / size: 26-28 cm / 47-53 cm

Identification: Medium-sized bird whose back and shoulders are orangish with black spots; its head and neck are bluish-grey with a black- and white-striped collar; its breast is pink and its tail is black at the base and has a large white band at the tip. In flight its orange back, greyish wing stripe, and dark flight feathers are easily visible.

Song: It makes a soft, deep cooing like the revving of an engine: a repetitive "toor-toooor-toor".

Diet: It primarily feeds on grain seeds, herbaceous plants, and fruits.

Reproduction: It begins in May. The nest is placed atop trees and bushes, and is a simple and fragile structure made of interwoven twigs. Both parents are in charge of incubation.

HABITAT

It occupies mixed areas of pastureland and farmland with small woods, grassland areas, etc., and always near bodies of water. It avoids areas above an altitude of 1,000 metres.

DISTRIBUTION

In Spain: It is distributed throughout the entire peninsula, and the Canary and Balearic Islands.

In Castile and León: It breeds in all the provinces, with the largest populations found in León, Burgos and Palencia.

Movements and migrations: It is a long-distance migratory species, with wintering areas in tropical Africa, in the southern Sahara. Specimens from central and eastern Europe come to our latitudes. The prenuptial passage takes place between April and May, and the postnuptial between August and October.

POPULATION

In Spain: There is an estimated population near one million breeding pairs.

In Castile and León: There is an estimated population of more than 10000 breeding pairs.