The Turtle Dove is the UK’s smallest native Dove (L 25-28 cm, WS 45-50 cm), approximately half the size of a Wood Pigeon.

Turtle Doves are generally seen from April to September foraging on the ground or perching on telephone wires but may be harder to see if they are in the tree canopy where they can be well hidden.

They have an orange eye, bright orange-brown feather edges on their upper parts, a white tipped tail and a patch of black and white stripes on their neck.

Their song is a distinctive deep, hard purring, ‘turrrrrr turrrrrr turrrrrr’ repeated several times.

As proof of captive breeding, the birds we release are ringed on both legs with a closed 6 mm size ‘P’ seamless light metal ring. These have kindly been donated to the Trust by the International Ornithological Association (IOA). They are coded green for 2020 and magenta for 2021. Each one has a unique 4-digit number in between the letters and numbers ‘P20’ and ‘IOA’.