| The Collared Dove is smaller than a Wood Pigeon with a long
tail, buffy-pink plummage and a black neck collar from which it derives
its name; this is missing in young birds. The Collared Dove is one of our
most common birds, usually associated with man - farms, gardens and parks.
Incredibly it did not start breeding in Great Britain until 1955 after a
rapid spread across Europe. Feeding mainly on seeds and grain, its cooing
has become a familar sound in the countryside but is absent on the moors.
Usuall seen on its in own or in pairs (as in this photograph) it has a long
breeding season streching from March to October. The parents usually stay
in the same area while the young move to new territories which, together
with its breeding season, helps to explain its rapid spread across the country
from its original breeding site in Norfolk. The nest is a a flimsy platform
of twigs in a tree and both parents incubate the eggs and feed the nestlings
on 'crop milk'. |
