TURTLE DOVE
A hauntingly beautiful purring sound has started to echo around the valley. It is mid-April and the turtle doves have arrived from Africa. This is a very attractively marked little pigeon, slightly smaller than a collared dove. Its body plumage is blue-grey and pinkish, with its back and wings being chestnut brown with dark feather centres, giving it a scaly appearance. It has a long tail which is mainly black, but looks wedge shaped, due to the white corners. Red legs and eyes, and a vivid black and white barred neck patch on either side of its head.
Unfortunately, this birds’ numbers are declining, due to agricultural intensification and being heavily hunted on its passage through the Mediterranean. As I am writing this, the Italian government has given its approval to escalate the hunting of these beautiful birds to an industrial level. It seems a prerequisite of politicians that they are morons. The turtle dove is most commonly seen high up in the tree canopy or on telephone wires. They prefer lowland deciduous woods and copses with rich undergrowth. I will try to get closer photos!
