Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vertebrate > bird > Bird |
| Red List Status: | Critically Endangered (Breeding) [CR(br)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Streptopelia turtur |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Linnaeus, 1758) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Stanbury et al., 2021 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Long term significant decline Eng BBS (25 yr -97%, 10 yr -80%). |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | targeted delivery of a species-specific package of land management interventions is required. Continued monitoring and refinement of existing land management intervention solutions would be beneficial. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Protection and restoration of mature broadleaved thorny scrub within lowland farmed landscapes will provide nesting habitats for Turtle Doves. Where this is paired with protection and restoration of species rich short vegetation - grassland or cultivated land - Turtle Dove feeding opportunities will also be delivered. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 6. Recovery solutions trialled |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Combination - sufficient |
| Species Comments: |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Deliver breeding season habitats: nesting, foraging and drinking habitats in combination, in core population centres, of sufficient quality and scale to have positive effect on UK breeding population of Turtle Doves, using all appropriate through the advisory and engagement approach provided by the NE/RSPB/PCT Operation Turtle Dove project
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Habitat creation
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites:
Comments: Priority one. Requirement for long term habitat restoration and creation over large areas of current and former breeding range, through land management interventions
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Conduct bespoke national survey of breeding Turtle Dove population every 3-5 years, with stratified assessment of conservation intervention areas, using repeated methods, at appropriate inter-survey intervals, to determine effectiveness of conservation measures on landscape, county and national populations
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Targeted monitoring
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites:
Comments: Priority two.
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Carry-out research on fine-scale habitat use to increase knowledge of TD foraging requirements and further develop practical conservation solutions.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites:
Comments: Priority three
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.