With a flash of white tail feathers and a flurry of dark-tipped wings, the Eurasian Collared-Dove settles onto phone wires and fence posts to give its rhythmic three-parted coo. This chunky relative of the Mourning Dove gets its name from the black half-collar at the nape of the neck. A few Eurasian Collared-Doves were introduced to the Bahamas in the 1970s. They made their way to Florida by the 1980s and then rapidly colonized most of North America.
Size & Shape
Eurasian Collared-Doves have plump bodies, small heads, and long tails. They’re larger than Mourning Doves but slimmer and longer-tailed than a Rock Pigeon. The wings are broad and slightly rounded. The broad tail is squared off at the tip, rather than pointed like a Mourning Dove’s.
Color Pattern
Eurasian Collared-Doves are chalky light brown to gray-buff birds with broad white patches in the tail. The bird’s collar is a narrow black crescent around the nape of the neck. In flight and when perched, the wingtips are darker than the rest of the wing.
Behavior
Eurasian Collared-Doves perch on telephone poles, wires, and in large trees and give incessant three-syllable coos. Their strong flight pattern features bursts of clipped wingbeats and looping glides. When walking these doves bob their heads and flick their tails. Eurasian Collared-Doves often feed at backyard seed feeders and on spilled grain in stockyards and around silos.
Habitat
Eurasian Collared-Doves live in urban and suburban areas throughout much of the U.S. except the Northeast. In rural settings look for them on farms and in livestock yards where grain is available. In cooler months, flocks may roost together in large trees.
Food
Eurasian Collared-Doves eat mainly seed and cereal grain such as millet, sunflower, milo, wheat, and corn. They also eat some berries and green parts of plants, as well as invertebrates
Nest Description
The male dove brings the female twigs, grasses, roots and other nesting materials, which he sometimes pushes directly under her. Over 1 to 3 days she builds a simple platform nest, which may include feathers, wool, string and wire. A pair often uses the same nest for multiple broods during the year, and may renovate old nests.
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