Bird Gallery Index

 Ringed Turtle-Dove ( public domain image)

Family: (Columbidae) Pigeons and Doves

Preferred Habitat: Suburbs.

Seasonal Occurrence: Uncommon permanent resident in our area.

Notes: Ringed Turtle-Doves hybridize with Eurasian Collared-Doves, making positive identification difficult. In general, Eurasian Collared-Doves are much more common. Ringed Turtle-Doves in the United States are basically a domestic species and do not easily survive in the wild.

Find a Comparision of Eurasian Collared-Dove and Ringed Turtle-Dove on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology web site. Cornell Lab also sponsors Dove Detectives, a study-watch of doves and pigeons. The Houston Bird Survey on the Houston Audubon web site has more information and a distribution map.
- Susan Billetdeaux