Missing Doves

[Hedera]

I am worried: I haven't seen a single collared dove since before Christmas and the bad weather. Usually I have two or three having baths and feeding in the garden, and love watching their antics. They have been around for years and have young each year. Are they delicate and could they have succumbed to the hard winter?

[rossy]

hello hedera , ive got the opposite to you, i have 20 plus daily, and im pretty sure ,they are quite hardy birds, and your right about their antics, they seem to have a pecking order here, but this lot started with around 6, now as put its 20 plus , hope yours come back, might be feeding nearby. rossy.

[LRM]

I had a similar problem. Last Boxing Day the Wood pigeons and Doves dissapeared. Eventually 1 pigeon returned and 1 Dove and 2 days later another dove appeared. I assumed the pigeons were shot by the Hunting fraternity on Boxing Day. As for the Doves I don't know if the 2nd dove was the same or different. The pigeon got another mate in the summer. They don't breed much. The doves haven't raised any young since the magpies moved in. The pigeons have raised 1 or 2 successfully although the sparrowhawk got at least one.

Recently, only seen 1 pigeon and 1 dove at a time so not sure if the 2 pairs are still here. They are not as 'tame' as the original ones were who were very used to being fed.

[Hedera]

"Mine" were daily visitors, and had got used to me, so that's why there is a gap! I hope they re-appear. I hadn't thought of predators - hope that isn't the case.

[Richard Baber]

Hi. I mentioned in another thread that 'my' collared doves were unusually absent this year. I have seen one, fleetingly, since then, but one sighting in 16 days is certainly far lower than usual. No shortage of wood pigeons though. It would take something pretty drastic to wipe them out...

[Littlesparrow]

Our Collared Doves are a favorite food of the Sparrow Hawk so their numbers do go up and down, they are also a bit slow to get out of the way of cats.

[Naturenutz]

I am not sure if they flock together in cold weather,i counted 12 in a tree at work.

[Acipiter]

Sparrowhawks seem to love them, I saw a female carrying one out of the local grave yard, the other day as I was passing by, only just a few feet from my head!

[Ben Orme]

I'm the opposite. Never seen one in my garden until last week!

Also the same story with a pair of starlings which look to be nesting in the house opposite.

Very exciting!

[thewoose]

I've noticed this too. I have loads and loads of woodpigeon - they're actually a nuisance - but today was the first collared dove I've seen this year, and that was only fleetingly.

True about favourite food of sparrowhawks too - shame they're not quite so keen on feral pigeons!