Species › Birds

European Turtle Dove

Streptopelia turtur

Order: Columbiformes
Family: Columbidae
Presence in the Strait: Seasonal
Abundance: common
IUCN (global): VU · Vulnerable
In Spanish: Tórtola europea

30% of its open observations in the area are from September.

Photograph: Mourad Harzallah, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 26–28 cm
Wingspan: 47–53 cm
Weight: 140 g

Presence in the Strait

Common summer visitor to woodlands and open areas. Numbers are falling.

Identification

Like a Collared Dove but with black-spotted orange-brown wing coverts and tertials, brownish back and pinkish breast. Head and neck are bluish-grey with ”zebra” neck patches. Flight is fast, agile and direct. Juvenile birds are brown-grey.

Movements

Peaks in 1st hf. May and 1st hf. September.

Ring recoveries

Belgium (4), Spain (4), France (2) and one bird ringed in Senegal on 13.03.90 controlled on 25.04.91 at Algodonales (Cadiz), 2,761 Km. away. Columbidae Tórtola Turca ad. Tórtola Europea ad.

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

30 %

Peak in September. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 28 April 1921
Latest record: 3 November 2024

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Not included
Spanish Catalogue: Not included
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: VU · Vulnerable · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): VU · Vulnerable

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Phenology compared

Monthly distribution in proportion, by decade. It shows whether the passage is getting earlier or later.

2000–2009

2010–2026

Proportions, not totals: observation effort grew faster than any population.

Where they come from

10 birds ringed in other countries and recovered in the area.

Belgium4
Spain4
France2

See the journey on the map

Same genus in the Strait

Eurasian Collared Dove31–33 cm · Resident

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Columbiformes
Family: Columbidae
GBIF taxon key: 2495708

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Mourad Harzallah, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

European Turtle Dove

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Ring recoveries

Gallery