Latin name - Streptopelia decaocto

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. Usually 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'.