Eurasian Collared Dove

How to recognise it

• Mostly pale beige-grey with a slightly darker brown back and lesser wing coverts
• Black, white-edged half-collar on the nape, sexes look alike, juveniles have a weak collar
• Long tail with a broad white edge, the central tail feathers are beige
• Red iris with a narrow white eye-ring, dark grey bill and short reddish-pink legs

Call and song

The song is a monotonous do doo-do, with a drawn-out, stressed second note and a lower third note. In flight, especially just before landing, it gives a hoarse, harsh call.

Where and when

It is resident and reported all year round. It lives in towns and villages in southern and central Sweden and locally along the Norrland coast north to Luleå. It favours leafy gardens, parks and avenues with tall, old trees. Its share of all bird reports is highest in Gotland, Kalmar and Blekinge. It is listed as Near Threatened (NT) on the 2025 Swedish Red List.

Food and behaviour

It eats mainly seeds, sprouts and green leaves, and in towns scraps such as bread. Large flocks can gather where food is plentiful, for example grain. The male's display flight is a fast, almost vertical climb followed by a long, circling glide downwards. The pair builds a simple twig nest in a tree or bush, sometimes on a building, and usually lays two to four clutches.