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Jul 16, 2018

European Turtle Doves (Streptopelia turtur) in big trouble in England

Photo: Joe Blossom / Alamy
Britain's Turtle Doves down 93% in 24 years
The number of European Turtle Doves in Britain has dropped by 93% since 1994.   One of the largest populations of nesting doves in England is found on a Sussex estate of 3,500 acres; yet it is home to just 16 pairs of doves!   It has been transformed from intensively farmed agricultural land to one of the richest natural environments in the country.   Because so few Turtle Doves now exist and England is in such environmental  jeopardy for so many bird species, one ecologist, Penny Green, has described Turtle Doves as being "...caught in the crosshairs of time".
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BarrytheBirder