What we're looking for
The Turtle Dove is one of the highest conservation priority species for the RSPB and is the fastest declining UK species. We lost 95% of our turtle doves between 1995 and 2018, and with low numbers, monitoring is becoming increasingly difficult. A national survey is needed to produce the robust population estimates, measures of change and maps of current distribution, needed to underpin our conservation work. County-level surveys will be conducted in a selected sample of 1km-squares across the known range. The survey period will be from mid May to the end of July, with two visits per 1km-square during this period. Surveys will be conducted on all suitable habitat within each, using a standard territory mapping method. The survey period is between dawn and 0900, after which vocal activity decreases markedly.