With summer in full swing and our advisors out and about working with farmers and other land managers, we’ve had really encouraging reports of Turtle Doves, including young birds, in places where people are actively managing the land to help these special visitors.
Recovery begins
It’s great to hear when Turtle Doves have returned to a site, and we’re always buoyed by such news. And right now, we’re also celebrating some excellent news for Turtle Doves in Europe – the western European population of Turtle Doves increased by an incredible 25% following two years of a hunting ban in France, Spain and Portugal that began in 2021.
There’s more good news too. All three countries will ban Turtle Dove hunting again this year. All Turtle Doves breeding in western Europe, including the UK, migrate through France, Spain and Portugal.
The new figures come from a report to the European Commission, authored by an international team of scientists advising governments on how to manage their populations of Turtle Doves sustainably. The temporary hunting ban resulted from evidence-based advice from the same team.
An additional 400,000 breeding pairs
A 25% increase means an additional 400,000 breeding pairs from 2021 to 2023 for the western European population, of which the UK is a part.
With the western European population now numbering nearly two million breeding territories, it is predicted that more Turtle Doves will be reaching the UK, to take advantage of the habitats that hundreds of farmers and landowners are creating – from flowering plots and patches providing seed food, to dense thorny scrub to offering safe nesting sites. In turn these birds will raise more chicks of their own, further boosting numbers. The UK sits at the northern edge of this large western European population, and the ‘recovery wave’ is expected to take slightly longer to reach us. But reach us it will.
International collaboration
An International Species Action Plan for Turtle Dove in 2018 identified that unsustainable hunting needed to be addressed, and international collaboration has been key to achieving this population increase.
The lead author of the report to the European Commission that details the recent population increases, Dr Carles Carboneras, of the Spanish Institute for Game and Wildlife Research (IREC) said “The rapid start to the recovery of the Western European breeding population of Turtle Doves since 2021 shows us the value of a well-researched and well-implemented conservation action plan. The collaborative international plan showed us what actions were required, on what scale and where. With our scientific advice, governments, land managers and hunters have implemented the plan’s recommendations, and we are just starting to see the resulting success.”
Creating good breeding season habitats
However, hunting is not the whole story. Research has shown us that since 1970, most of the UK decline up to the late 1990s, could be explained by poor breeding productivity alone. Supporting evidence showed that a lack of food was likely to be responsible. The International Species Action Plan supports this, making it clear that to help Turtle Doves, we must ensure that they have good breeding season habitats available. By working hand-in-hand with supportive and enthusiastic farmers, these key habitats are now being restored.
Rick Bayne, Senior Project Manager for Operation Turtle Dove said, “The recent increase in Turtle Dove numbers across western Europe as a whole is really exciting news, making our conservation efforts here in the UK for these birds all the more worthwhile.
As this news, and the International Species Action Plan clearly demonstrates, the combination of ending unsustainable levels of hunting, together with delivering more suitable habitat here on their breeding grounds, is key to numbers of these special birds increasing again. We know both actions must happen together, and this excellent news is compelling evidence that our conservation strategy for Turtle Doves is working“.
Creating and protecting farmland habitat features, from seed-rich flowering areas and ponds to patches of thorny scrub, and tall wide hedgerows – even in gardens and local greenspaces – can benefit Turtle Doves on their return to the UK, ensuring these spaces are Turtle Dove ready. Having travelled 3,000 miles on migration from sub-Saharan Africa, the birds can refuel quickly and start breeding here in the UK thanks to this work, with pairs raising multiple broods over the summer when conditions are good for them.
A big advantage of delivering for Turtle Doves is that wider farmland biodiversity also benefits. The diversity of arable flowers increases, providing for a wide range of invertebrates and pollinators, as well as being a source of food for bird species such as Linnet, Yellowhammer and Grey Partridge. Nightingales are often found nesting in the same dense scrub as Turtle Doves and ponds and other water sources provide a richness of habitat availability.
Together for Turtle Doves
Operation Turtle Dove is working with hundreds of farmers and other land managers to help them create the breeding season habitats that Turtle Doves need. We’re immensely grateful to everyone involved in this work, and together we can create a brighter future for the Turtle Doves that visit us every spring and summer.
To find out more about how to help these birds, please visit our advice pages or get in touch with your local Turtle Dove advisor.