Streptopelia turtur
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
The European turtle dove (Streptopelia turtur) 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.
The European turtle dove was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other pigeons in the genus Columba and coined the binomial name Columba turtur. The specific epithet turtur is the Latin word for a turtle dove. Linnaeus gave the locality as "India". This was an error, and the type locality has been designated as England. The species is now placed in the genus Streptopelia that was introduced in 1855 by the French ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte.
Four subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fertő-Hanság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 2 | Kiskunság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 3 | Niokolo-Koba National Park | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 4 | Hortobágy National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 5 | Camargue | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Monfragüe National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 7 | Doñana National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 8 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 9 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 10 | Biebrza National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 11 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Natura Artis Magistra | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 2 | Zoo Pilsen | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 3 | Parc des oiseaux | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Slimbridge Wetland Centre | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Berlin Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 6 | Dierenpark Hoenderdaell | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 7 | Wrocław Zoological Garden | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 8 | Diergaarde Blijdorp | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 9 | Bristol Zoo Project | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 10 | Hanover Zoo | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 11 | Birdworld | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 12 | Tierpark Hexentanzplatz | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 13 | Santillana Zoo | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 14 | Birdland Park and Gardens | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 15 | Storchenstation | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | |
| 16 | Africarium | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 17 | Oceanium | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 18 | Aquarium Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 19 | Cologne Zoo Aquarium | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 20 | Landgoed Hoenderdaell | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 21 | terrarium ogrodu zoologicznego we Wrocławiu | 🇵🇱 Poland |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a European Turtle Dove sighting in Doñana National Park on a given day, based on 193 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 136th most-seen of the 234 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a European Turtle Dove in Doñana National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August and October–March, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most European Turtle Dove sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
7th of 11
Of the 11 parks where we can rate European Turtle Dove sightings, Doñana National Park ranks 7th at about 10%. The best odds are in Fertő-Hanság National Park (Hungary, about 30%), Kiskunság National Park (Hungary, about 20%) and Niokolo-Koba National Park (Senegal, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the European Turtle Dove is recorded against all the birds logged in Doñana National Park (193 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
