When do turtle doves arrive in and leave 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.

When do turtle doves arrive in the UK?

In the GBIF records, UK sightings of the European turtle dove rise sharply from late April and are near their peak by early May.

When do turtle doves leave the UK?

UK sightings fall away after mid September.

Where do turtle doves go in winter?

From December to February the strongest signal in the effort-adjusted GBIF records is around Mali, Senegal and Gambia. The globe shows the whole winter range month by month.

European turtle dove in the UK, month by month

Bars: this species’ share of all UK bird records in GBIF (CC0/CC BY 4.0 only), by month, scaled to the peak month. Based on 19,149 UK records (occurrence search API, country=GB, weekly). Dates come from sightings, not a survey, so treat them as a guide.

See the European turtle dove migration on the 3D globe →

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, shortened at a sentence end. Winter/summer areas: country containing the monthly hotspot of effort-adjusted GBIF records, using Natural Earth boundaries (public domain).

Other UK summer visitors: see the full list with arrival and departure dates.