31-5-2020 POTRIES, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN TURTLE DOVE (Sternula albifrons)

The European turtle dove (Streptopelia turtur) is a member of the bird family Columbidae, the doves and pigeons. It breeds over a wide area of the south western Palearctic including north Africa but migrates to northern sub-Saharan Africa to winter.

Smaller and slighter in build than many other doves, it measures 26–28 cm (10–11 in) in length, 47–53 cm (19–21 in) in wingspan and weighs 100–156 g (3.5–5.5 oz).[11] The European turtle dove may be recognised by its browner colour, and the black-and-white-striped patch on the side of its neck. The tail is notable as the bird flies from the observer; it is wedge shaped, with a dark centre and white borders and tips. When viewed from below, this pattern, owing to the white under-tail coverts obscuring the dark bases, is a blackish chevron on a white ground. This can be seen when the bird stoops to drink and raises its spread tail.

The mature bird has the head, neck, flanks, and rump blue grey, and the wings cinnamon, mottled with black. The breast is vinaceous, the abdomen and under tail coverts are white. The bill is black, the legs and eye rims are red. The black and white patch on the side of the neck is absent in the browner and duller juvenile bird, which also has the legs brown.

The turtle dove is a migratory species with a western Palearctic range covering most of Europe and the Middle East and including Turkey and north Africa, although it is rare in northern Scandinavia and Russia. It winters south of the Sahara.

The turtle dove, one of the latest migrants, rarely appears in Northern Europe before the end of April, returning south again in September.

17-7-2019 ALBUFERA, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN TURTLE DOVE (Sternula albifrons)

It is a bird of open rather than dense woodlands, and frequently feeds on the ground. It will occasionally nest in large gardens, but is usually extremely timid, probably due to the heavy hunting pressure it faces during migration. The flight is often described as arrowy, but is not remarkably swift.

The nuptial flight, high and circling, is like that of the common wood pigeon, but the undulations are less decided; it is accompanied by the whip-crack of the downward flicked wings. The arrival in spring is heralded by its cooing or purring song, a rather deep, vibrating "turrr, turrr".

18-7-2018 ALBUFERA, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN TURTLE DOVE (Sternula albifrons)

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.

31-5-2017 MARJAL DE MOROS, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN TURTLE DOVE (Sternula albifrons)

Medium-sized dove with spotted wings, a distinctive striped neck patch and a bold white tip to the rounded tail. Found in wooded and semiopen habitats, especially farmland and heath with hedges and scattered trees. Usually rather shy; seen mainly in flight, but at times perched on utility wires. Feeds on ground, when may associate with other pigeons. Appreciably smaller and slimmer than much commoner and overall paler Eurasian Collared-Dove. Extremely similar in plumage to Oriental Turtle-Dove, but has less extensive dark centers to the wing feathers and averages pinker on the breast.