Why Turtle Doves can lead the way in restoring farm wildlife
By Shivani Thevar – Turtle Dove Conservation Adviser (Sussex, Hampshire and West Kent)
The charismatic Turtle Dove is a beloved bird in the countryside. Its beautiful wing pattern, striking neck stripes and soothing purring call often make it stand out in both the countryside and in conservation. Farmers recall how the call of a Turtle Dove used to mark the beginning of summer, and it takes them back in time.
Thanks to the efforts by our advisers, more and more farmers and landowners are helping create the right habitat for Turtle Doves in eastern and south-east England. Turtle Doves need seeds of arable wildflower plants, dense hedgerows and scrub, and accessible water. When our stakeholders create or manage a habitat to encourage Turtle Doves, they in-turn support a plethora of other wildlife. Think of the Turtle Dove as an umbrella. Once you open it, everything under it is protected from the rain. Deliver habitat for Turtle Doves, and even if they don’t use it immediately, a world of other wildlife benefits from it. Let’s get into the details.
Suitable nesting habitat provides a home for others
Turtle Doves need thick, dense scrub and hedgerows (ideally around 4m wide and 3m tall) with thorny species to nest in. Such habitats also support a vast variety of birds, mammals, reptiles, invertebrates, lichens, fungi and plants. Blackthorn is one of the first plants to bloom in the spring and provides a massive pollen and nectar source for bees and other pollinators. Its early foliage is a foodplant for the caterpillars of moths such as Lackey, Magpie, Swallow-tailed, Yellow-tailed and Small Eggar moth which are threatened due to over-enthusiastic hedge trimming. The rare Brown and White-letter Hairstreak butterfly also overwinter by laying their eggs on the shoots and twigs of hedge plants. Sloes, the black fruits of Blackthorn are a favourite autumn meal for birds and even used to make gin.
According to the Farmland Bird Index, 16 out of 19 birds are associated with hedges and scrub and ten priority birds use it as their primary habitat. They act as shelters for hedgehogs, voles, dormice, bats, lizards, and reptiles that seek refuge within the density of the intertwined branches. This includes many threatened and protected species such as Horseshoe Bat, and even Great Crested Newts which will hibernate amongst the roots. They facilitate movement of wildlife through the landscape, creating connectivity and protection. Other environmental benefits include prevention of soil erosion, water run-off, pest control and capturing carbon.
Feeding habitat benefits other scarce species
Turtle Doves feed on the seeds of low-growing wildflowers and arable plants. Their feeding area should include some bare ground for them to be able to access these seeds. For Turtle Doves, we aim to create these areas by either disturbing the topsoil to allow wildflower seeds naturally present in the soil to grow. Wildflowers are extremely important for pollinators such as bumblebees, bees, butterflies and more. These insects pollinate crucial everyday crops, and the seeds of wildflowers provide nutrition to birds.
Gently cultivating the ground to create foraging areas for Turtle Doves allows many interesting rare arable plants to germinate and thrive. Some examples are Round-leaved Fluellen, Prickly Poppy and Corn Buttercup. Wildflowers also form complex root systems that hold water and carbon, make the soil stable and protect from nutrient runoff during heavy rainfalls.
The bare ground that benefits the Turtle Dove is also important for invertebrates year-round during different parts of their life cycle. Bare ground provides nesting habitat for about 250 species of solitary bees, mining bees (on sandy soils), wasps (including the rare Purbeck Mason Wasp), ants and beetles. It also serves as hunting areas for beetles and spiders, and basking sites for butterflies. In 2020, the Great Fox-spider, one of UK’s largest spiders which was previously thought to be extinct, was rediscovered in Surrey. They use ambush hunting methods where they hide in bare sandy soil and prey on other insects and small spiders. Bare ground also causes thermoregulation and allows warmth to reptiles and amphibians that thickets of grass aren’t able to provide.
Accessible water
Turtle Doves need accessible water such as ponds and puddles with a gentle slope for their stubby legs to reach. This is due to their exclusively dry seed diet, and for the production of ‘crop milk’, rich in protein and fats, regurgitated to their chicks.
A managed pond is alive with frogs, toads, newts, dragonflies, damselflies, beetles, spiders, pillwort, pondweed and leeches. Two-thirds of the UK’s freshwater species are found in ponds. Farmland ponds are especially crucial, as large expanses of landscape used for crop production often lack accessible water. Birds, insects and amphibians will often travel significant distances in search for water, and ponds created primarily for Turtle Doves will also support a rich biodiversity.
Conversely, features created for other species like scrapes, puddles and butterfly banks can also provide food and water for Turtle Doves. Consequently, creating Turtle Dove habitat has the ability to support a wide variety of wildlife communities and brings with it significant environmental benefits. Just another reason why Turtle Doves are awesome!
If you’d like to learn more about creating Turtle Dove habitat, read our advice sheet or request a visit from your local adviser. You can also get involved by recording your sightings on the BirdTrack app which helps inform us of their distribution.
References:
Nichols R. N., Holland J. & Goulson D. (2020) Methods for creating bare ground on farmland in Hampshire, UK, and their effectiveness at recruiting ground-nesting solitary bees. Conservation Evidence, 17, 15-18.
https://www.wildflower.co.uk/advice/why-are-wildflowers-important
https://www.hedgelink.org.uk/cms/cms_content/files/29_bumblebees_&_hedges_leaflet.pdf
https://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/distribution.php?species=w-album
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/habitats/hedgerows/
https://hedgelink.org.uk/guidance/importance-of-hedgerows/
https://www.surreywildlifetrust.org/news/surrey-wildlife-trust-rediscovers-great-fox-spiders
https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/create-areas-of-bare-ground-for-invertebrates/
https://www.arc-trust.org/news/the-importance-of-bare-ground