Populations of turtle dove are in rapid decline across Europe and this species has red list conservation status globally. In the United Kingdom its numbers have declined by 93% since 1994 and across Europe numbers fell by 78% 1980–2013.
Environmentalist groups have said that the decline of turtle doves in Europe is partly because changed farming practices mean that the weed seeds and shoots on which it feeds, especially fumitory, are scarcer, and partly due to shooting of birds in Mediterranean countries. According to a 2001 study cited by the European Commission, between two and four million birds are shot annually in Malta, Cyprus, France, Italy, Spain and Greece.Environmentalists have described spring hunting in Malta as particularly problematic as it is the only country with an EU derogation to shoot birds during their spring migration to breeding grounds.
According to a 2007 study by the European Commission, four currently identifiable potential threats to the turtle dove are habitat loss/modification (medium to low impact), droughts and climate change (mostly unknown but likely low impact), hunting (partly unknown but overall medium impact), and competition with the collared dove (unknown impact). The British Trust for Ornithology has also highlighted Trichomonosis parasite as a threat to the turtle dove.
No comments:
Post a Comment