Turtle dove dissertation — Charlotte O'Neill Portfolio

O fair thee well, my little turtle dove: How has a changing British countryside contributed to the decline of the turtle dove?

Introduction

This dissertation examines the causes for the decline of the Turtle Dove, Streptopelia turtur in Britain and continental Europe. Changes in agriculture and how this has impacted farmland birds is discussed, with a particular focus on how changes in farming practices have made life harder for the turtle dove. These changes are contrasted against other potential causes for the birds decline. In this dissertation, I argue that changes in the agricultural system and land management are the main drivers of the Turtle Doves decline and reform in the industry would help to protect them and other farmland bird species. The purpose of this dissertation is to collate information on how changes in agriculture have led to this bird’s unfortunate decline and how this species can be better protected now and in the future. I will also question what benefit saving the turtle dove will have for both humans and other wildlife in the agricultural environment. In the first chapter I will discuss the Turtle Dove as a species and its cultural importance to Britain, Europe and further afield. This allows me to examine the status of the turtle dove as a migratory species and the routes they take. This species journeys through and to differing habitats where the turtle dove’s behaviour and feeding habits may change. I then go on to talk about the birds decline from the 1960’s to the current day, including the main behavioural causes of this decline and the environmental causes that may have led to them. I also discuss other secondary causes of decline that have contributed such as climate change and shifting baseline syndrome.

In the second chapter I examine how agriculture has changed over the past 1000 years, leading up to the post war period and the third ‘agricultural revolution’. I discuss the changes that caused this revolution such as food shortages and economics. I then go on to talk about how specific changes to the agricultural system and landscape have led to the decline of farmland birds such as turtle doves. To end the chapter, I explain economic policies that have both made these changes possible and actively promoted them.

In the third chapter I argue that changes in agriculture are the best way of bringing Streptopelia turtur back from the brink of extinction. I go through the specific management techniques that Operation Turtle Dove have listed as ways to improve breeding habitats for the species. These include management options that can be put in place through higher agri-environment schemes and supplementary feeding techniques. I also mention the other ways in which this species can be protected such as through education and hunting moratoriums abroad. I also briefly mention the benefits of saving this species, such as creating other habitats and protecting what’s still is an important aspect of British rural culture.

Chapter 1: What is a Turtle dove?

The turtle dove, Streptopelia turtur (Figure 1) is a small migratory pigeon. While other British pigeons ‘coo’, Sterptopelia turtur ‘turrs’ in a purring call, a sound which gave the species its scientific name. (Woodland Trust 2021)

The dove is most likely to be heard in the morning and evening, as the male makes itself known to any available females (Calladine et al 1999) from an exposed tree branch or post (Operation Turtle dove 2021).

Culture

The turtle dove is a cultural favourite in Europe. It has been seen as a symbol for peace (Browne and Aebischer 2005), faithfulness and love (Operation turtle dove 2021). Poets and playwrights wrote of this bird and artists painted it, using the bird’s symbolism to convey messages and metaphors. A painting of a deceased ruler of Florence, Guioliano de’ Medici included a turtle dove representing his mourning wife (See figure 3). It’s believed that in the Christmas carol ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’, the two turtle doves served to symbolise the testaments at a time when Catholicism was banned in England (Browne and Aebischer 2005). This is not the first time that the turtle dove has had religious associations, as it’s mentioned in a passage of ‘The Song of Solomon’, a romantic poem from the Bible (Biblehub 2021).

The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. (Biblehub 2021)

This verse shows a connection between the animal and the concept of spring, beyond European literature. Similarly, the turtle dove has been described by some as ‘The sound of English Summer’ (Tomlinson 2021). In a Suffolk folk song recorded by Vaughan Williams in the early 20th century, a reference is made to a 10,000-mile journey taken by the dove (Lee 2019).

Migratory Behaviour

The turtle dove travels over 5000km between its wintering grounds in western Sub-Saharan Africa and its breeding grounds in north Africa and Europe (Wildlife Trusts 2021). This journey takes place twice a year between April/June and August/October (Brown and Aebischer 2003). There are three main flyways across Europe including a western flyway across the Iberian Peninsula (Fisher et al. 2018). The birds that breed in Britain are more likely to use this flyway (Fisher et al. 2018).

The turtle dove inhabits different habitats at different times of the year. In its summer breeding season, the bird can be found on agricultural land. It prefers scrub, with hedgerows and trees that are at least 4 metres high and two metres thick (Fisher et al 2018).

In western Sub-Saharan Africa, the birds are found wintering in Savannah’s (Fisher et al 2018). They prefer places with accessible water, abundant food and trees in which to roost (Zwarts et al 2009).

Decline

What makes the turtle dove an important species to focus on is its rapid decline. This animal is classed as globally threatened on the IUCN red list (BTO 2018). Across the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme, the species has shown a decline by 80% since 1980. In the UK, the decline has been even steeper, the species having declined by 98% since 1970 (Wotton 2021). Alongside this strong population decline, the range of the species has contracted by 25% (Gibbons et al. 1993), with most breeding pairs now residing in south-eastern England (Dunn et al 2012). Conservation of migratory species involves international collaboration, and the Turtle Dove may face entirely different dangers depending on the country it’s residing in. The International Single Species Action Plan funded by the European Union in 2018 contained contributes from over 50 individual countries (Fisher et al 2018). The main cause of this species decline in the UK is a lack of multiple breeding attempts due to a shorter breeding season. Turtle doves are returning to Africa when they would be normally rearing a second brood (Brown and Aebischer 2003).

The British turtle dove population was at its peak in the 1960’s, with an estimated 125,000 pairs in the UK (Knepp Wildland n.d). In this period, turtle doves were producing at least two broods of two chicks, whilst now they only produce one. A study undertaken in the late 1990’s and 200 saw turtle doves produce 130 offspring per 100 pairs (Browne and Aebischer 2003). This is a stark difference to a study in the 1960’s that saw 100 pairs produce 208 offspring (Murton 1968). In the following year from the former study only 82.5 pairs returned to breed, leading to a loss of 17% in the population per year. This could explain the dramatic drop in turtle dove numbers (Browne and Aebischer 2003). So why aren’t turtle doves breeding like they used to?

Turtle doves nest in hedgerows and shrubs, usually 1-3 metres above the ground (Browne and Aebischer 2003). Half of hedgerows in Britain have been removed since 1950, and those that are present are often degraded. A lot of scrubland has also been cleared, to make sure that farmers can use all available space. This means that many of the areas used by turtle doves to breed have disappeared (Newton 2017). Even so, Turtle doves have shown a reasonable level of adaptation to different breeding areas, with some found nesting high up in coniferous woodland so this may not be the limiting factor of their decline (Browne and Aebischer 2003).

The main cause of turtle dove decline is thought to be the loss of their food supply (Browne and Aebischer 2003). Streptopelia turtur are granivores, meaning they exist almost entirely on seeds (RSPB 2018) Naturally, the birds would be feeding from seeds produced by plants that are regarded as agricultural weeds. These include plants such as Fumaria (Fisher et al 2018). As herbicides are used on crops to kill pests and less land is left to grow semi-wild, there are fewer wild plants for the turtle doves to use as a food supply (Newton 2017). As a result, the birds are driven to use cereal grains and oilseed rape. A modern turtle doves’ diet is made up of 61% wheat and rape, whereas they only made up 5% of its diet in the 1960’s. The percentage of agricultural crops in the diets of fledglings is even higher, at 69% (Browne et al 2003).

This food has been shown to provide more nutrients than the weed seeds, so the problem is not malnutrition but accessibility. Turtle doves feed by pecking seeds off the floor or low-lying plants and as a result, they are relying heavily on spilt grain or seeds left on the ground after harvest. The former is harder to find due to stricter storage regulations and the latter can only be found towards the end of the breeding season. Turtle doves are travelling up to 10km to fewer feeding sites. It’s believed that these journeys may be the cause of the shorter breeding season, as the energy that would be put into producing another brood is wasted (Browne et al 2003).

Unsustainable levels of hunting are another threat that the Turtle Dove faces as they travel over France, Spain and Morocco (Operation Turtle Dove n.d). 14,000 pairs of Turtle Doves breed in the UK (Operation Turtle Dove n.d) and their preference for the western flyway makes hunting in these countries a threat to them (Fisher et al 2018). Turtle doves are legally hunted across 10 European countries (Lormée et al 2019) and 2 million turtle doves are shot in the continent every year. In Spain alone, at least 436,807-805,643 birds are harvested annually most years (Fisher et al 2018). The turtle dove is noted as an ‘EU quarry species most likely to be affected by hunting’ (Jarry 1994. Hill 1992) and there is a push to lower the % of fledglings and adult birds taken by hunting to only 5-15% of the population so that it remains self-sustaining (Hill 1992). (Barkham 2021). There is evidence that European shooters have been targeting turtle doves in sub-Saharan Africa. These shoots target roosting birds, often at night. For the large number of birds in these roosts, mortality is not the main danger. Instead, it’s stress, when they should be resting and feeding to ensure they are in good condition to migrate (Zwarts et al 2009).

In the British population, a parasite known as Trichomonas gallinae has been causing starvation by attacking the gut and respiratory system (Birdlife International n.d). This parasite caused a rapid decline in the population of Chloris chloris in 2006 and may be spread through feeding stations (BTO n.d). Similarly, it can be spread through shared feeding sites by pigeon and dove species (Dudley 2013). A study by the University of Leeds and RSPB found that 86% of collared and turtle doves carried this disease (Lennon 2013). It has been proposed that the food stress caused by the loss of their feeding grounds may make them more susceptible to the parasite (Lennon 2013).

Climate change within the Sub-Saharan Africa may also be having affect, as droughts kill weed plants. This pushes the birds to use agricultural crops such as rice (Zwarts et al 2009). Shifting baseline syndrome may also play a role. This psychological theory proposes that each generation bases the established norm of what the natural world should be like on the environment they grew up in (Pauly 1995). If a generation is not brought up with the call of the turtle dove in rural areas, they will not miss it. Emma Stobart from Operation Turtle Dove cites that younger people, especially from urban areas, are less aware of its decline. Changes in agriculture are the main cause of decline in the turtle dove. So just how and why have these changes occurred?

Chapter 2 – Agriculture

Post-war agricultural change

British agriculture has been subject to change throughout the centuries. The concept first appeared in these islands some 6000 years ago (Davis 2019). A thousand years after its introduction, the invention had made its way across Great Britain, bringing with it large changes to the landscape. The island was deforested, and birds that had previously relied upon a completely natural environment suddenly had to adapt to a much more anthropocentric world. Birds that relied upon woodland and open grassland or scrub now lived on the agricultural landscape (Newton 2017).

These changes have continued until present time. Conventional cropping methods were replaced throughout the centuries as new concepts and machinery were brought in such as crop rotations (Newton 2017) and Jethro Tull’s seed drill (Bellis 2019). Whilst some of these ongoing changes were beneficial for wildlife for short periods of time (Newton 2017), the changes that took place in the latter half of the 20th century were incredibly detrimental due to their impact on habitats and food sources. (Boatman et al 2007)

From the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s, the British rural landscape was encountering a recession (The Field 2018). Cheaper imports led to a decrease in the amount of food grown at home. This continued until the second world war (Warren 2005). In this period, some areas returned to a semi-wild state such as scrub through lack of use (Newton 2017). Food could not always be imported from abroad though, as was demonstrated during the second world war when ships were targeted by submarines. (Adams et al n.d) Suddenly, Britain would have to produce the food for its increased population of 41 million people (Charleston 2016). Mechanisation suddenly increased dramatically, making the United Kingdom ‘the most highly mechanised farming country’ of the world at that time (Newton 2017). Any unsuitable land was to be modified to produce crops. The consumption of British produce increased from 20% to 51%. (Newton 2017) This continued after the war. The Agriculture Act of 1947 ensured that farmers would receive set prices for their produce. Prices were kept low in shops and new grants were created to modify and intensify old farmland (UK Parliament n.d). Semi-wild habitat was lost and rural wildlife declined as a result. 44 million breeding birds were lost in Britain between 1966 and 2012 (Davies 2012), a decline of 21%. For individual species, the figures are much starker, including for the turtle dove (Eaton et al 2012). So what changes were made that lead to the declines of granivorous birds in the rural landscape?

Mechanisation

Mechanisation of the rural landscape began in the late 1800’s, with the creation of stream driven traction engines, a development made possible by the industrial revolution. But mechanisation only really came into full swing in the 20th century. Powerful tractors replaced horses, with 400,000 tractors being in use by the mid 50’s. This was an increase of 350,000 from 1936 (Fraser 1972). These machines were larger and more efficient than animals. Both cultivation and harvesting times were sped up dramatically. This had a detrimental effect on farmland birds who relied on the slower time periods at harvest and sowing for collecting seeds off the ground (Newton 2017). Combine harvesters, which increased in numbers by 56,610 between 1938 and 1970 simplified the harvesting process (See appendices 1).

The previous methods for harvesting and sowing grain produced more wastage, creating a food supply for opportunistic granivorous species. The loss of hayricks also deprived the birds of a much-needed source of cereal grains. The loss of this food source not only impacted pigeons and doves, but also smaller seed-eating birds such as linnets (Newton 2017).

The size of the machinery used also had an impact on the rural landscape. Mechanisation was the main cause of hedgerow removal. These hedgerows were removed so that they did not get in the way of farm machinery. Larger fields were created and the lack of a field boundary between them ensured that more land could be used for production. But this loss of diversity in the landscape also created a loss of biodiversity (RSPB n.d). Those hedges that still exist can be more easily flailed and trimmed. This has increased the frequency with which farmers do so, leaving them thinner and lower (Peoples trust for endangered species n.d). This has made many hedges completely unsuitable for nesting birds like turtle doves (Browne and Aebischer 2003).

Chemicalisation

After the second world war, the use of poisons in the form of herbicides and pesticides was more common in agriculture. Large agrochemical companies produced chemical compounds that were toxic to some plants but less so crops. Chemical fertilizers in the form of phosphorous, potassium and nitrogen were also widely used (Muhammed et al 2018). From 1950-1980, the most extensively used chemical fertilizer was inorganic nitrogen.The use of this fertilizer was subsidised and encouraged up until the early 1970’s. These fertilizers create more luscious, denser, and faster growing crops. This increased yields greatly, improving the British landscape’s ability to produce enough food for its growing population (Newton 2017). But it came at a cost to the environment. 66% of wildplants struggle to grown in nitrogen rich soils (PLantlife n.d) . Grass is much better suited to fertilised environments and outcompetes them (Piqueray 2019). This reduces the diversity of plants, including seed-producing weeds that would sustain granivorous bird populations. The density of the grass is also too thick for nesting birds such as skylarks (Boatman et al 2007). But the greatest impact that the chemical revolution of the 20th century has had on our landscape is the use of herbicides and pesticides (Boatman et al 2007). Whilst in previous centuries, weeds would be pulled by hand the development of chemicals allowed their easy destruction. The number available increased from 1 in the 1960’s to around 40 by 1990, which cleared cropland of seed-producing weeds such as knot-grass, fat-hen and chickweed (Newton 2017).

These were then replaced by species such as black-grass and cleaver, which have little value for granivorous birds. As a result, they are forced to rely upon cereal crops for food. The use of herbicides increased greatly in the 1970’s and is a probably explanation for the decline in many seed-eating birds in this period (Newton 2017).

Specialisation

Mixed farming systems involve farms creating multiple different kinds of produce, such as both livestock products and cereal crops. If you have invested in arable cropping machinery, it makes more sense to commit more of your time to arable farming than it would to livestock rearing (Newton 2017). As a result, different areas of the country have now specialised. Farms in the south-east are more likely to produce cereal crops than the south-west, which mostly focuses on livestock farming (Newton 2017). Now large swathes of landscape are no longer accessible for granivorous birds (Boatman et al 2007). This could be an explanation for the turtle dove’s recent population being local to the south-east of England.

Policy

These changes did not come into existence on their own. Policies produced by the British government and European Union after the war paved the way for a more industrialised countryside, with higher production for much lower prices. Britain joined the European Economic Communities ‘Common Agricultural Policy’ in 1973. Similar to the previous act, this policy guaranteed a market by placing tariffs on imported goods into the EU. Subsidies were given were given to farmers who maximised the area used to produce crops on their land. This has lead to further environmental degradation through the removal of hedgerows and other habitats (Newton 2017). In 2002, a report by the Future of Farming and Food found that the CAP subsidies had contributed greatly to agricultural environmental destruction the previous few decades (Donald et al 2002). 91% of subsidies produced contribute to environmentally damaging activities, whilst only 9% go towards the protection of farmland biodiversity (Newton 2017). It was found that birds in non-EU European countries were in fact faring a lot better than in EU countries, due to the absence of CAP support in these countries (Donald et al 2002). Subsidies in their current form have so far continued in Britain after Brexit but this is set to change (Stokstad 2020).

Chapter 3 – Agriculture and the turtle dove

How can the species be saved?

Changes in agriculture are the main cause of the turtle doves decline, as it has been with many farmland bird species and so this is where the focus should be (Guy 2021). But what measures can be taken to save the turtle dove and how effective are they likely to be?

For nesting, turtle doves require thick hedgerows and scrubland (Browne and Aebischer 2003). The best way of providing this habitat in an agricultural setting is to allow hedgerows to grow so that they reach at least three metres in width and four metres in height. They should be cut every 2-3 years on alternating sides. New or degraded hedgerows should be replanted with thorny species. Scrubland could be left to grow on unused land such as field borders or woodland edges (Browne and Aebischer 2003). This would help the turtle dove to reclaim arable land with high levels of hedgerow removal. Planting conifer trees has also been shown to be beneficial, if it’s not possible to allow scrub to grow (Browne and Aebischer 2003). Turtle doves are shown to nest near accessible patches of water so farm ponds with sloping sides are a very attractive feature for this species (Operation Turtle Dove n.d).

The most efficient way of bringing this species back would be through providing feeding habitat (Operation Turtle Dove n.d). This habitat could be created on field edges, in borders called ‘headlands’ (Newton 2017). Turtle dove feeding habitat is specialised, as patches of bare soil are needed. The plants that turtle doves feed upon can regenerate from the land or be grown from seeds (Operation Turtle Dove n.d). Whether the former is a viable alternative to the latter depends on the current seedbank of the soil. After decades of herbicide use, the seed bank may be severely depleted, at which point the plants that naturally grow may not be suitable for turtle doves. If the right seeds are in the soil, the best way of producing the habitat is to cultivate the area in autumn and then kill off the resulting growth in late winter. Once the resultant land has been cultivated, plants such as knotweed and fumitory can grow. These are perfect for turtle doves (Operation Turtle Dove n.d).

If the seedbank is depleted, seeds should be sown manually. Seed mixes can be found through organisations such as Natural England or the RSPB. The mix for turtle doves contains a variety of species such as Black Medick and English Vetch. The area should be sown and rolled in autumn with the mix. In the following year, the area can be ‘topped’ to stop unwanted plants growing through but cutting in the years following must be on a rotational basis (Operation Turtle Dove n.d).

The creation of these habitats on agricultural land would maintain turtle dove populations where they are currently present and provide room for them to expand across the country. There is already work in the south-east to provide habitats for this species, through the efforts of Operation Turtle Dove since 2007. Despite the decline of the species since the beginning of the project, there is cause for hope. Turtle dove numbers only started to decrease years after changes in agriculture started to take place. Similarly, turtle dove numbers may only noticeably increase years after their habitat is restored due to species recovery curves (Stobart 2021). So it may be that the impacts of these efforts are just not being seen yet. The main cause of agricultural industrialisation is economics.

Agriculture is a business that seeks to create a profit and every bit of agricultural land is utilised to create money, including semi-wild spaces. Agri-environment schemes are one way in which farmers can afford to set aside semi-wilded land for wildlife such as that suggested for turtle doves. Farms that sign up to the general Entry Level agri-environment scheme pick from a list of management options that they can put in place. These include ideas such as hedgerow management or the setting aside of field boundaries among others (Newton 2017). If farmers carry some of these options they get paid a subsidy. These management options are meant to help the overall farmland ecosystem. Another subsidy option is the Higher Agri-environment scheme. This is a competitive scheme which places the emphasis on management for one or more species. The goal of the higher scheme is to improve or maintain the habitat for those species. This scheme provides a higher subsidy and is harder for farmers to access (Newton 2017). One bird that has benefited from agri-environment subsidies is the Cirl Bunting. This bird was once found throughout southern England but by the late 1980’s they were reduced to a small population in South Devon (Newton 2017). These birds needed mixed farmland with winter stubble left for them to feed upon, as they did not migrate (RSPB n.d). They also needed hedgerows in which to nest. A higher agri-environment scheme directed at farmers was created, with agreements lasting 10 years. This increased the population by 453 pairs to 862 between 1992 and 2009 (Newton 2017). This is a success story of the higher agri-environmental schemes. Evidence has shown that general agri-environmental schemes have only a moderate or slight positive impact on common species of birds and animals, whilst rare species don’t benefit as much (Newton 2017). Higher agricultural schemes in turn have a much greater benefit for both the species targeted and other species in the ecosystem (Pywell et al 2012). Since the higher scheme is not as accessible as the general, this means that the 60% of farmland managed under AES are under the general scheme (Newton 2017).

Agri-environment schemes will only benefit the turtle dove if a higher scheme option for the species is chosen by individual farmers or if farmers choose management options that collaboratively benefit the species through the general scheme (Newton 2017). With the changing agricultural subsidy system, there may be more of a focus on the environment and so it may become more profitable to provide semi-wild spaces for wildlife. Whether this will happen remains to be seen. Supplementary feeding of turtle doves around their nesting sites is also recognised as a possible conservation method (Operation Turtle Dove n.d). This has proven to be very successful but does create some problems. Birds can become over-reliant on man-made food sources so that if they are removed the population will crash again. Shared feeding sites may also create a larger risk of disease transmission between individuals (Dudley 2013).

The shooting of turtle doves outside of Britain is a problem of international collaboration (Fisher et al 2018). It’s currently legal to shoot turtle doves in nine different European countries. This is greatly contributing to the turtle doves decline as fledglings and adult birds are shot before they return to their winter hunting grounds. A five-year moratorium from hunting has been proposed in Spain (Fisher et al 2018), with a one year moratorium being implemented. It’s believed that this will help the population recover by 5%. This is important for maintaining the species at its current level (Barkham 2021). If the 9 other countries that hunt Turtle Doves in Europe also stopped shooting them, it would assist conservation efforts to save the species. Education is an important part of conservation (Infield et al 2017). Emma Stobart from Operation Turtle Dove has said “It’s certainly the older generation of farmers, know what a Turtle Dove is, they will have heard them and they would know what it is. But the younger generation, most of them don’t really know what a Turtle Dove is.” This shows a lack of awareness of the species and it’s decline. Despite this, the turtle dove is recognised as a symbol in religion and European culture (Operation Turtle Dove n.d), which explains why 20.8% of a survey of 452 people in England associated the bird with the festival of Christmas and 10.8% associated it with abstract concepts such as ‘love’ and ‘peace’ (See Appendix. E).

This cultural association can be compared to that of the Pemba Flying Fox, a species endemic to a Tanzanian Island. This species was critically endangered in the 1990’s but was brought back under the label of threatened through collaboration between Fauna and Flora International and the local people (Infield et al 2017). The bats were endangered due to habitat destruction and over-exploitation, like the Turtle Dove. Similarly, they had value due to religious beliefs and the local people were largely unaware of their decline. Once they were made aware, laws were put in place by community leaders to restrict hunting and decrease disturbance. It was the cultural value of these bats that inspired local people to protect them (Infield et al 2017).

In the survey mentioned previously, 44.9% replied that they had never heard a turtle dove call (See Appendix. G) but 97.6% said they would like to see and hear more turtle doves in their local area (See appendix. I), which means that if they are made aware of the species, people want to bring them back. This is positive news for turtle dove conservation and may be something worth exploiting to the benefit of the species.

Similarly, collaboration with shooting organisations in Europe has led to hunting moratoriums as the birds have intrinsic value to shooters due to being the quarry species (Anderson 2021).

Benefits of saving the turtle dove

Saving the turtle dove could have many benefits for the ecosystem and could positively impact people (Stobart 2021). By creating hedgerows and field boundaries full of weed-seed producing plants, more nesting and feeding habitat will be created for other granivorous species such as the Bullfinch (Operation Turtle Dove n.d) and Corn Bunting (Newton 2017). The creation of headlands around fields would also make space for insects and rare plant species that may not otherwise survive in an agricultural environment. This can have a beneficial impact on farmers, as the predators of many crop pests breed within the headlands (RSPB n.d). Saving the turtle dove could also have cultural benefits for Britain. Older television series such as The Darling Buds of May had the turtle dove call as their soundtrack and Shakespeare wrote about the bird in his plays (Stobart 2021). This bird, whether known through sight or sound, was once a large part of the cultural identity of rural Britain (Operation Turtle Dove n.d) and as such should be something we take pride in. By getting people to take an interest in its conservation you could potentially get people to consider their food and its environmental impact. This can have overall wider positive effects as consumers could push for change.

Conclusion

The main cause of the Turtle Doves decline is changes in agriculture brought about by the need to provide food to an increasing population and to maximise output for profit. These changes have been successfully supported by EU subsidies and mechanisation. The main impact these changes have had on the turtle dove is to make food harder to access, so birds have less energy with which to raise second broods. The specific changes that have caused this are the use of herbicides on the landscape and mechanisation which has made the harvest and storage of grain much more efficient. The current economy and larger population of people means that agriculture will have to continue producing large outputs of food, but it must do so with nature in mind. The loss of habitat suitable to turtle doves has also impacted many other farmland species including other granivorous birds and even invertebrates. The reinstatement of turtle dove breeding habitat in the form of field borders and hedgerows could boost the general ecosystem, providing benefits for a variety of different species. This in turn can have a positive financial impact on the farmers that implement these measures. The financial support for environmentally damaging activity should be lessened in comparison to support for beneficial activity, and activity that’s damaging should be modified to be less so. The current agri-environmental schemes put in place by the EU do not generally have much positive impact on the environment unless the farmer is taking part in the higher scheme. Due to the short amount of time these schemes fund for, farmers pick reversable options and ones that do not interfere with making a profit. As a result nature loses out. Changes in environmental subsidies over the next seven years may help to reverse this, but the nature of these new subsidies and what they will promote remains to be seen. The turtle dove has a rich cultural history in Europe, but still it has been allowed to decline significantly, with many being unable to recognise or remember it. Despite this, a large percentage of those surveyed wanted to see the bird in their local area. The use of cultural significance has benefited other species and habitats in international contexts and may be beneficial to turtle dove conservation. If people are educated on the cause of the birds decline, they may be more likely to support the measures that will protect it. Promoting the bird using its cultural connections may be key. It will be interesting to see if the bird manages to recover over the next ten years, or if it will be another species lost to our changing landscape.

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