New research suggests lifeline for UK Turtle Dove population

A new research study, conducted across six East Anglian farms, has recommended a new agri-environment management option that could help in the recovery of the UK's precarious Turtle Dove population.

The study, carried out by the RSPB and part-funded by Natural England (through its Species Recovery Programme), found that cultivating grown seed with a mix of plant species in the autumn creates an easily accessible and seed-rich habitat ideal for Turtle Doves, which feed on seeds present on or close to the ground. The authors also suggest that light cultivation or cutting during spring would better prevent the plots from becoming too overgrown and therefore unsuitable for the doves.

The UK Turtle Dove population has fallen 88 per cent since 1995. Though it is widely known that the species is hunted in unsustainable quantities around the Mediterranean basin, one cause for the UK decline is thought to surround the lack of seeds, which historically formed the bulk of the species' diet during the breeding season. This lack of seeds has resulted in much shorter and considerably less productive breeding seasons.

In Britain Turtle Doves have declined by 88 per cent since 1995 (Photo: Dorian Mason)

This latest research into the management of bespoke seed mixes to provide food for Turtle Doves, which was published in the Journal for Nature Conservation on Tuesday, is under consideration as a part of a modified version of the nectar flower mix option under the new Countryside Stewardship scheme and could be pivotal in providing food in arable areas across the UK.

Patrick Barker, an arable farmer in Westhorpe, Suffolk, who took part in the study, said: "It's been great to be involved in this research and to find out how we can give Turtle Doves a hand. What was particularly striking was that the areas they prefer don't look as you'd expect.

"For example, we learned that bare patches on the ground amongst the vegetation give them space to land and move around.

"I hope that our work here will encourage other farmers to do the same, and that this will help Turtle Doves return to the countryside."

This new management option is part of a wider 'Turtle Dove package', deployed within the Higher Level Stewardship scheme agreements on farms supporting the doves (or with doves nearby), which seeks to provide foraging habitat in proximity to nesting birds. The other options in this package include cultivated margins, fallows that promote seeding plants, and scrub and hedgerow management for nesting. The options a farmer selects will depend on local land characteristics and farming practices.

Tony Morris, Senior Conservation Scientist, RSPB Centre for Conservation Science said: "This research helps our understanding of how to provide food for Turtle Doves on farmland where the original sources of seed food have long since vanished but without unduly disrupting modern agriculture.

"Agri-environment schemes offer the best and perhaps last hope for this iconic species. We're hopeful that, together with farmers and our partners in Operation Turtle Dove, we can reverse the decline of this bird and secure its long-term future in Britain."