Once these turtle doves charmed the British with their mesmerizing cooing. But sadly today the changing agricultural practices and unabated hunting have pushed them to the brink of extinction. Exported years ago from the Himalayas the numbers of these doves have reached dismally low in UK. As a matter of fact now spotting a turtle dove in its natural habitat has indeed become a rare event.
Often symbolized as love’s messenger these birds are disappearing due to hunting and shortage of food as they feed on seeds from weeds on farms but the changing practices have contributed to the lack of availability of food. The turtle doves fly to Britain every spring from Africa are unable to find food at both ends of their migration route.
The Breeding Birds Survey showed that the summer visitor has decreased by 61 per cent since the 1990s.
The British Trust for Ornithology has declared that the bird has disappeared from the South-West and the North of England and is also become rarely visible in East Anglia.
The introduction of Common Agricultural Policy has also declined their nesting habitat of tall overgrown hedges and areas of scrub on farmland.
The bird is also hunted in the Mediterranean when they migrate from Africa and is seeing habitat changes as the Sahara spreads southwards into their winter territory.
