Eurasian collared dove
Streptopelia decaocto
If you hear a "coo-COO-coo" outside your window in the morning, it's probably a collared dove.
| Size | 31–33 cm |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 47–55 cm |
| Weight | 125–240 g |
| Diet | Seeds, grain, shoots |
| Eggs | Usually 2 |
| Where to see it | Cities, villages, gardens; all year |
The easiest way to recognize a collared dove is to look at its nape. There is a thin, black half ring there, as if it were wearing a collar. The name comes from that.
This bird is actually from around here. It spread out of Anatolia and the Balkans and across all of Europe in the 1900s. Today it lives even in Britain and Scandinavia. Ornithologists are still studying this spread.
It isn't very fussy about nests. It drops a few sticks between the branches, and that's it. Sometimes you can see the eggs from underneath. But it raises chicks several times a year, so it works.
It feeds its chicks in an interesting way too. Both mother and father make a liquid called "crop milk" in their crops and give it to the chick. That isn't very common in birds.
In Turkish there is a saying, "like a kumru", for couples who are very devoted to each other. Collared doves really do often go around in pairs.
To draw it in DrawBird
Start like in the sparrow lesson. Stretch the body a little and make it light brown-gray. Keep the head small and draw a thin black half line on the nape. The beak should be thin and dark.
Drawing lesson: How to draw a sparrow →
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