The Eurasian collared-dove (Streptopelia decaocto) is a medium-sized dove species native to Europe and Asia. It gets its name from the black collar on the back and sides of its neck. The Eurasian collared-dove has a distinctive “coo-COO-coo” call that can be heard frequently throughout the day. This cooing call serves several purposes for the birds.
Territory Defense
The primary function of the Eurasian collared-dove’s coo call is to defend its territory. The coos are louder and more frequent during the breeding season when pairs defend nesting areas. The calls warn rival males to stay away and signal occupancy of a territory to females. Females also give the territorial call but less often than males. The coos communicate that the area is claimed and trespassers may be attacked if they enter the territory. So the frequent cooing helps maintain spacing between Eurasian collared-dove pairs and wards off intruders.
Attracting a Mate
In addition to territory defense, the cooing helps attract and bond with a mate. Unmated males give a repetitious, loud cooing display to advertise themselves to females. The intensity and persistence of the cooing reflects the male’s health and fitness. Females are attracted to vigorous cooing males as promising partners. Once paired, the male continues to coo when near the female, helping strengthen the pair bond. The coordinated duetting of mated pairs also helps maintain the relationship. So the coo call plays an important role in mate selection and pair bonding in Eurasian collared-doves.
Staying in Contact
The Eurasian collared-dove’s coo also serves to keep mates and flock members in contact. The doves often forage on the ground for seeds and grain in small flocks. The constant cooing allows them to maintain auditory contact even when out of sight behind bushes or tall grass. The coos help scattered birds relocate flock members. Mate duets also help a pair that has been separated reunite. Keeping in touch vocally likely provides safety benefits for the ground-feeding birds. So the coo can function as a location call within flocks.
Signaling Alarm
In some cases, the coo may also serve as an alarm call. When startled by a potential threat, Eurasian collared-doves will sometimes give a fast series of brief coos. These abrupt coos may alert other doves to danger, such as a swooping hawk. The alarm coos send flock members rushing for cover. So the coo is a versatile vocalization used for territorial defense, attracting mates, staying in contact, and signaling alarm.
Origin and Spread of the Eurasian Collared-Dove
The Eurasian collared-dove originated in Asia and spread westward over centuries, expanding its range across Europe in the 1900s. In the 1970s, escaped captive birds established a foothold in the Bahamas. From this Caribbean population, Eurasian collared-doves spread rapidly across North America in the following decades. They now breed throughout the continental United States and south Canada. The adaptability and dispersal tendencies of this invasive dove allow it to thrive in urban and suburban habitats. Their loud, incessant cooing is a conspicuous feature in many neighborhoods.
Native Range in Asia and Europe
Eurasian collared-doves are native to a broad swath of Europe and Asia. Their original range stretched from Turkey and the Balkans east across south Russia, the Middle East, India, and China. In this native region, they inhabit open woodlands, scrublands, agricultural areas, and grasslands. These adaptable doves occur in habitats from sea level up to semi-arid mountain regions. They avoid only dense forests and cold northern tundra environments.
Several centuries ago, Eurasian collared-doves began expanding their range northwest across Europe. Between 1600-1900 AD, they colonized new parts of Europe such as Hungary, Austria, and Germany. They reached Britain by 1955 through natural colonization from mainland Europe. Their adaptability enabled these doves to thrive around humans in agricultural and urban habitats across an increasingly broad European distribution.
Introduced Population in the Bahamas
Eurasian collared-doves were brought to the Bahamas as cage birds in the 1970s. Some escaped captivity and formed a wild population. Being adaptable and prolific, this introduced Caribbean population grew rapidly. From this beachhead, the doves began spreading northward and colonizing parts of Florida in the 1980s. This marked the start of the broad invasion of North America by this non-native dove.
Rapid Spread Across North America
Free-living Eurasian collared-doves in Florida acted as the source for a racing wave of range expansion across North America. The doves spread readily into urban and suburban habitats, as well as agricultural areas. They colonized widely across the southern U.S. in the 1980s and 1990s. By 2000, their range encompassed most of the eastern U.S. In the following decades, Eurasian collared-doves pushed westward, colonizing areas across the central plains and southwest. They now occur in every continental state and much of south Canada from British Columbia to Quebec. In little over 30 years, these invasive doves achieved a distribution across half a continent. Their phenomenal success demonstrates remarkable adaptability and dispersal capacity.
Reasons for Rapid Spread in North America
Several key factors helped Eurasian collared-doves successfully colonize and spread rapidly across North America:
High Reproductive Rate
Eurasian collared-doves have a high reproductive capacity and can raise many broods per year. The pairs breed throughout the year whenever abundant food is available. They produce clutch sizes of 1-3 eggs, often 2, and can raise up to 6 broods per year. This high productivity enables a pair to produce up to 12 young per year. The high fecundity allows populations to grow quickly and produces excess young that disperse to colonize new areas.
Abundant Food Sources
The doves readily exploit human-provided food sources such as bird feeders, spilled grain at silos, and cereal crops. These abundant calories support larger populations at higher densities than possible naturally. Well-nourished birds lay more eggs and experience lower juvenile mortality. Access to plentiful food resources facilitates reproductive success and population growth.
Adaptability to Human Landscapes
Eurasian collared-doves thrive in the open country and edge habitats common in human-altered landscapes. They nest in trees in city parks and yards, allowing exploitation of urban food sources. The doves also colonize agricultural areas readily, feeding in fields and around grain facilities. Their adaptability gives them an edge over more specialized native species when colonizing human-dominated environments.
Limited Competition from Native Species
No ecologically similar native doves occur across much of the collared-doves’ invaded North American range. This lack of competition from established species creates an open niche. The introduced doves spread readily into these empty niches across North America. Where native doves like mourning doves do occur, collared-doves often dominate them through interference competition. Their aggressive habits give them an advantage over ecologically similar species.
Climate Match
The temperate and subtropical climates across the southern and eastern U.S. closely match conditions in the Eurasian collared-dove’s native range. These doves evolved in temperate environments and fare poorly in cold climates. The climate similarity between their home range and newly colonized areas enabled the doves to thrive and spread rapidly. Climate-matching helped spur their invasion success.
Impacts and Issues with Eurasian Collared-Doves
While popular with many people, Eurasian collared-doves pose some important issues and concerns:
Agricultural Damage
The doves often feed in large flocks on grain crops during winter. Their bulky flocks can cause noticeable damage to unharvested fields of wheat, corn, and other grains. Their ability to exploit these food sources gives collared-doves an advantage over native species less inclined to feed in large agricultural flocks.
Competition with Native Birds
The aggressive habits and high populations of collared-doves sometimes displace native birds relying on similar food resources. Mourning doves and smaller songbirds like finches may lose access to feeders or food sources due to collared-doves. However, the overall ecological impacts on native species remain limited thus far.
Disease Transmission
Like pigeons and many other bird species, Eurasian collared-doves can carry various pathogens transmissible to humans and poultry. However, they do not appear a significant disease reservoir compared to species like pigeons. Improved management of grain facilities may help reduce risks of pathogen transmission.
Collisions with Windows
The doves frequently collide with windows on homes and other buildings. Their heavy collisions can damage windows and even kill birds. Special decals or screens may help reduce collision risks. But this issue remains an nuisance associated with collared-doves in urban areas.
Overall, Eurasian collared-doves provide aesthetic enjoyment for many people and help control weed seeds. While requiring some management, major detrimental impacts from this introduced species remain limited thus far. Ongoing monitoring and adaptability will enable continued coexistence with these abundant newcomers. Their familiar coo will likely continue spreading across neighborhoods for the foreseeable future.
Conclusion
The Eurasian collared-dove’s repetitive cooing call serves important functions related to breeding, territoriality, and flock cohesion. The coo advertises territory ownership, attracts mates, strengthens pair bonds, and helps scattered flock members stay in contact. Sometimes it may also signal alarm at threats. This versatile vocalization helped Eurasian collared-doves successfully colonize Europe’s human-altered environments centuries ago. More recently, it has accompanied their invasion of North America. The Eurasian collared-dove’s cooing will likely continue ringing out across urban, suburban, and rural areas as their populations expand. Understanding the meaning behind this call provides insight into the ecology and behavior behind one of North America’s most abundant and familiar bird sounds.
