How Many Clutches Do Turtle Doves Breed in a Year? A Detailed Explanation of Their Breeding Habits

Turtle dove is the collective name for birds of the genus Streptopelia in the order Columbiformes. They are smaller than domestic pigeons, which is why they are usually called "doves" to distinguish them from pigeons. There are 16 species in the world, and apart from Latin America and a few areas such as the island of New Guinea where they are not found, they are widely distributed across other regions of the world. In China there are only 5 species, found almost nationwide. Let us take a look below at how many clutches turtle doves breed in a year!

How many clutches do turtle doves breed in a year?

Turtle doves are common resident birds that like to be active near villages and farmland. They generally breed from May to July, often building a very simple platform nest out of small twigs in the fork of a tree, and lay 2 to 3 eggs per clutch. Wild turtle doves breed 1 to 3 clutches a year, while captive-bred turtle doves begin breeding at around 8 months of age. Spotted doves and oriental turtle doves will naturally hatch and breed 5 to 6 clutches a year; if the young doves are taken out after ten days and hand-raised, they can breed about 10 pairs.

What do turtle doves eat?

Turtle doves often inhabit low hills, plains and mountain broad-leaved forests, mixed forests, secondary forests, orchards and farmland, as well as bamboo groves and trees near homes. They mainly eat the fruits, seeds, grass seeds, tender leaves and young shoots of various plants, and also eat crops such as rice, corn, sorghum, millet, soybeans, mung beans and rapeseed. Sometimes they also eat insects such as lepidopteran larvae and beetles. They mostly forage on the ground under the forest, at forest edges and in farmland.

What kinds of turtle doves are there?

1. European turtle dove: The European turtle dove is a summer migrant, arriving in spring from March to April and leaving in autumn from September to October. It often moves alone or in pairs and rarely forms flocks. During the day it spends most of its time perching and moving in trees, coming down to the ground only to forage and drink. It mostly forages after the sun rises in the morning. It mainly forages on open ground, in forest clearings and along roadsides. After eating its fill, it mostly perches in the tree canopy.

2. Oriental turtle dove: The oriental turtle dove often moves in pairs or small groups, and sometimes perches in pairs in trees or flies and forages together in pairs. If the female is injured, the male, after being startled into flight, will fly back several times to circle and call above the original spot. When active on the ground it is very lively, often advancing quickly in small steps, foraging as it walks, with its head bobbing back and forth. In flight its wings beat frequently, straight and fast. It sometimes also glides, especially when flying from a tree to the ground.

3. Eurasian collared dove: The Eurasian collared dove inhabits forests in plains, foothills and low hill areas, and also often appears in farmland, cultivated fields, orchards, shrubland, and near towns and villages. Adult Eurasian collared doves build nests in trees and lay white eggs in nests woven from branches. Incubation takes 14 to 18 days, and the young birds fledge after 15 to 19 days. This bird is not wary of humans, and they can often be found around human residential areas.

4. Spotted dove: The spotted dove inhabits plains, grasslands, low hills and farmland areas with sparse trees, and also often appears in mixed woods, bamboo groves near villages, trees at field edges, or near homes. It often moves in small groups, scattered in twos and threes perching on the tips of adjacent branches. Its habitat is relatively fixed, and if undisturbed it can remain unchanged for a fairly long time. It mostly forages on the ground, and when startled it immediately flies to a nearby tree.

5. Laughing dove: The laughing dove inhabits oases and thickets in desert and semi-desert areas, as well as near villages and small towns. It usually forages on the ground for plant seeds, fruits and buds, and is also fond of grain. It can usually lay 2 to 3 clutches of eggs each year. It nests in various trees, shrubland, thorny thickets, groves or cactus thickets, and also frequently nests on the balconies, walls or under the eaves of houses.