Giving the gift of hope: How hundreds of farmers and volunteers across South East and Eastern England are helping to save rare Turtle Doves

As 2023 comes to a close, we’re reflecting on the fantastic efforts that have been made this year to support Turtle Dove conservation. Hundreds of UK farmers, landowners and volunteers are helping to give the gift of hope for Turtle Doves, working with Operation Turtle Dove to provide better nesting and feeding habitat for the […]

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Autumnal journeys of turtle doves

Dr John Mallord from the RSPB’s Centre for Conservation Science has been tracking turtle doves over the last few years to learn more about their migratory journeys. Here he describes the journeys the birds made on their southbound autumnal migration in 2019. All migrant birds face numerous challenges as they move between their breeding to […]

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Reflecting on 2019

Thanks to dedicated research, we know that turtle doves are now far from the chilly UK. They have swapped the hedgerows and fields of the UK countryside for sub-Saharan Africa where you’ll find them in dense Acacia thickets where they roost and open grasslands and fields where the birds feed up. To find out more […]

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Looking out for turtle doves in France

Turtle doves are now back on their breeding grounds in East Anglia and south-east England, feeding up and raising their chicks. Earlier this spring though, they crossed agricultural land, desert and seas in their travels. One site in France is renowned for being a great place to witness turtle dove migration in action. Jeremy Dupuy […]

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A year in the life of… a turtle dove

Dr Susana Requena from the RSPB’s Centre for Conservation Science explains how new satellite tracking technology is giving us an insight into the life of the turtle dove. Tracking and mapping With continuing advances in tracking technology, our capacity to track birds keeps breaking new barriers. One species that has benefited from smaller tags and […]

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Unifying our voices for bird conservation

On World Migratory Bird Day, Anna Staneva from BirdLife International tells us about an exciting project that is uniting voices across the African-Eurasian flyways to save iconic species like the turtle dove. The theme of this spring’s World Migratory Bird Day is ‘Uniting our voices for bird conservation’. This message of international collaboration is exemplified […]

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The Art of Migration – When Turtle Doves Fly

Raising awareness about the plight of turtle doves can be difficult, it is a bird that most people don’t see anymore. Turtle doves now feature most in difficult conversations; agri-environment farm options; the new Species Action Plan which is launched later this month and of course rare bird notifications. Despite the fact that the numbers […]

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Turtle Doves – where are they now?

Guest blog by Dr John Mallord, Senior Conservation Scientist, RSPB Centre for Conservation Science Seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, four calling birds, three French hens, and a partridge in a pear tree, it seems someone thought birds were the ideal Christmas gift to one’s true love. Not forgetting, of course, two Turtle Doves, symbol of true […]

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Lawford just prior to release (copyright Chris Orsman - RSPB Images)

Lawford the turtle dove returns home

Dr John Mallord, Senior Conservation Scientist for the RSPB, has some great news about Lawford, one of the satellite tagged turtle doves… With all the cold weather we have been experiencing in the last two weeks, you’d be forgiven for believing that we are stuck in an extended winter. Yet the evidence is there that […]

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A letter from Gordon

Gordon is one of the RSPB’s satellite tagged turtle doves and he has been telling the readers of the children’s nature magazine Eco Kids Planet about the long journey he is preparing for, back to the UK from his winter home in Africa, and the plight faced by him and his fellow turtle doves… As Gordon […]

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