Last
modified: 11 May 2017
RSPB
scientists have succeeded in mapping the complete migratory route of a British
turtle dove for only the second time, after a bird fitted with a tracking
device in East Anglia last summer arrived back in the UK this week.
The
bird, named Lawford after the Essex village where he was fitted with his
tracker last summer, crossed the channel to arrive back in the UK on Friday 5
May.
After
a layover in Croydon and short detour via Suffolk, Lawford made his way to
within two miles of where he was first found in 2016, adding to evidence that
is helping scientists understand the importance of turtle doves’ faithfulness
to their established breeding territories.
The
turtle dove is Europe’s only migratory dove. Every autumn they cross the
Mediterranean Sea and Sahara desert to reach their wintering grounds in Africa,
returning to their European breeding grounds in the spring.
Since
leaving Essex in September last year, Lawford has travelled over 6,000 miles,
stopping in (or flying over) six other countries: France, Spain, Morocco,
Western Sahara, Mauritania and Mali.
Turtle
doves’ return to the UK traditionally marks the arrival of spring, but the
sound of their purring ‘turr-turr’ calls is becoming increasingly scarce in
most parts of the British countryside.
The
number of turtle doves breeding in Britain has plummeted since the 1970s – a
trend that has continued in recent decades – making them one of the UK’s
fastest declining birds.
Operation
Turtle Dove, a partnership project that aims to reverse turtle doves’ decline
in the UK, has seen conservationists working closely with farmers and
landowners to provide breeding and feeding habitat for turtle doves in areas of
the East and South-East of England where they still breed.
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