I noticed a dove that looks different than the mourning dove. Where did
Question Answered by
this new dove come from, is it harmful to our native birds, and are there
Gregg Losinski
hunting regulations for this species?
Regional Conservation
A very astute observation. Yes, we do have a new species of dove calling
Educator
Idaho home. The Eurasian collared-dove has recently moved into state.
Idaho Fish and Game
This bird is from the same family as our native mourning doves and serves
as a good jumping off point to discuss such terms as native, introduced, foreign, and exotic. In Idaho, the
mourning dove is what we consider a native species, meaning that it has been here an incredibly long
time. Other species we call non-native or exotic, such as the rock dove that many people call pigeons.
They have been here a long time, but it is a documented fact that the birds were first introduced to
America from Europe at the start of the 1600s.
When man intentionally brings a species of plant or animal
from somewhere else we say that the thing is an exotic species
that was introduced. If it comes here on its own, then we say it is
an invasive species. In the case of the Eurasian collared-dove,
the story is a bit of both. As the name implies, these doves
started in Europe and Asia and where introduced by man to other
portions of the globe. The birds we are now seeing move into
Idaho are the offspring of birds that were originally brought by
man to the Bahamas in 1970s. In the 1980s, the birds made the
jump on their own over to North America and have been working
their way North and West ever since.
Our native mourning doves are also migratory, in that the winters here are a bit too harsh for their liking.
These new collared-doves are larger in size than our native mourning doves. Because they come from a
place similar in many respects to much of America, these new birds are equipped to deal with most of
what our climate is able to dish out and don’t migrate. Because they are similar to mourning doves they
share the same habitat and food sources and therefore can compete for food and places to roost and
nest. While they are both doves, no record of interbreeding exists.
Because these birds are unwelcome visitors, they are treated similar to another invasive non-native bird
the rock dove, more commonly called pigeons. These birds receive none of the same respect as our
mourning doves that are managed as migratory birds with specific seasons and regulations. When it
comes to Eurasian collared-doves the only real requirement is that you have a valid hunting license when
you kill one. You can harvest as many as you like and it is only during regular dove hunting season that
you need to keep them unplucked while transporting.
Sometimes the value that is placed on a living thing is different depending on who is making the
decision. As George Orwell wrote in his book Animal Farm, “All animals are equal, but some animals are
more equal than others.” Some biologists speculate that the Eurasian collared-dove has been able to
expand its range so easily because it is filling the biological niche left behind by the Passenger Pigeon, a
North American native bird that once numbered in the billions, but was wiped out by market hunting, with
the last known bird dying in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914.
Canada Thistle: Another Introduced Species
Canada thistle is designated a noxious weed in Idaho. Noxious weeds are
introduced species that grow aggressively, multiply quickly and adversely affect
native plants or are harmful to livestock or humans. Canada thistle was introduced
to Canada from Eurasia before 1800. It is an aggressive weed that spreads by
seed. One Canada thistle plant can produce a million seeds during one season!
How Much is a Million?
1. Make a stack of 100 pennies. Measure the height of the stack with a ruler.
2. How tall would a stack of 1000 pennies be? (Hint: 1,000 is 10 x 100) Wow! A
stack of 1,000 pennies is 60 inches (5 feet) tall.
3. How tall would a stack of 10,000 pennies be? (Hint: 10,000 is 10 x 1,000)
4. How tall would a stack of 100,000 pennies be? (Hint: 100,000 is 10 x 10,000)
5. How tall would a stack of 1,000,000 pennies be? (Hint: 1,000,000 is 10 x 100,000)
A stack of one million pennies would be about 60,000 inches tall. That’s 500 feet tall--almost a mile high
stack of pennies!
Do you have a science question about southeastern Idaho that you
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Question Archive: www.stoller-eser.com/nie
Compiled by Stoller
ESER Program