Eurasian Collared Doves
In the last couple of years you may have started to notice a new addition to the Arizona Dove population. They are bigger than our native white wing or mourning doves and have a black collar on the top part of the neck. They are pale gray in color with dark primary feathers. They are Eurasian Collared Doves and have been reported in Maricopa country as well as Dateland and Wilcox.
Where did these
doves come from? A century ago, this species of dove resided primarily
on the Indian subcontinent. In the early 1900s, the species began to
expand its range reaching the British Isles in the 1950s. Today,
collared doves are even living above the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia.
The species was introduced into the Bahamas in the 1970s, and their
populations soon expanded through the islands showing up in Florida in
the 1980s. They have been showing up in Arizona in the last four or
five years.