looduskalender.ee

 

 

 

The collared doves that winter in Estonia are the residents of suburban tree stands and parks. These birds are somewhat urbanised – they spend the winter near humans, around bird feeders where they feed on what has fallen to the ground or snow. Particularly many of them have been seen in Kuressaare in recent years. The migrants left already in the end of September and only those remain who plan to stay for the winter – there are about five hundred of them.

 

Collared doves look like feral pigeons but are slimmer and have longer tails. The plumage is sandy with a slightly darker back. Its name-giving characteristic is the wide dark stripe on the neck – like the collar of a coat, however, young birds might not have this characteristic. The underparts are lighter and whitish grey beyond the legs. The dark eye is surrounded by a red iris. Compared to the feral pigeon, collared dove looks like a clean and bright bird.

 

The „real home“ of collared doves is in southern Asia. In the past century, the habitation area expanded to Europe and the first nesting birds in Estonia were registered in 1957.

 

Eurasian collared dove observations: LINK