Globe › Birds › European turtle dove
European turtle dove migration Streptopelia turtur
▶ Follow the European turtle dove across the big globe
Press ▶ to play the year. Line: a simplified typical route, joining the main cluster of GBIF records in each month (adjusted for observer effort).
| Scientific name | Streptopelia turtur |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 50 cm |
| Adult weight | 136 g (adult) |
| IUCN status | Vulnerable |
| Records mapped | 486,121 (GBIF) |
| GPS / geolocator tracks | none with an open licence yet |
Facts from Wikidata Q168514 (CC0).
When does the European turtle dove arrive in the UK?
A summer visitor in the records: sightings rise sharply from late April, are near their peak by early May, and fall away after mid September.
Bars: this species’ share of all UK bird records in GBIF (CC0/CC BY), by month, scaled to the peak month. Based on 19,149 UK records. Weekly counts from the GBIF occurrence search API (country=GB). Dates are read from records, not from a survey, so treat them as a guide.
When do they arrive in and leave the UK? →
Migration in the data
486,121 GBIF records (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 licences only) are mapped here, in 1.41° grid cells, month by month.
In Europe and Africa, the centre of the records (adjusted for observer effort) is furthest north in July (about 42°N) and furthest south in December (about 20°N).
Month by month: centre of records in Europe and Africa
| Month | Centre (latitude) | South of the Equator |
|---|---|---|
| January | 24°N | 0% |
| February | 23°N | 0% |
| March | 28°N | 0% |
| April | 36°N | 0% |
| May | 40°N | 0% |
| June | 42°N | 0% |
| July | 42°N | 0% |
| August | 41°N | 0% |
| September | 37°N | 0% |
| October | 33°N | 0% |
| November | 21°N | 0% |
| December | 20°N | 0% |
Tracked birds
No openly licensed (CC0 / CC BY) tracking data package for this species was found in the Movebank Data Repository yet, so only records are shown.
About the European turtle dove
The European turtle dove is a threatened or vulnerable member of the bird family Columbidae, the doves and pigeons. It breeds over a wide area of the south western Palearctic including north Africa but migrates to northern sub-Saharan Africa in winter.
From the Wikipedia article “European turtle dove” (revision 1380359569), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources
GBIF occurrence records, licence CC0 1.0 or CC BY 4.0 only, observations only (no specimens), filtered with: taxonKey=2495708&license=CC0_1_0&license=CC_BY_4_0&occurrenceStatus=PRESENT&hasGeospatialIssue=false&basisOfRecord=HUMAN_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=MACHINE_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=OBSERVATION. Monthly queries: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec. GBIF.org (23 October 2026) occurrence data accessed via the GBIF API; a GBIF download DOI is still to be added. Contributing datasets.