Collared Doves - Mating & Longevity

[WendyS]

Do Collared Doves mate for life?. We've lived in the same house for 25 years and have always had what appears to be the same single pair of Collared Doves visit our garden every day. They're inseparable and you rarely see one without the other. We call them Prudence & Percival but in reality they could be the children or grandchildren of the original pair who first came years ago. We have no means of knowing. Anybody out there know anything about Collared Doves?

[Cetti]

Hello Wendy, I've just been having a browse through various birdy books and it seems that Collared Doves, Wood pigeons etc pair just for the season, but there are the exceptions that pair for life, so why not your two?

It conjures up a lovely picture of Prudence & Percival sending out invitations to all the family to gather in the garden of WendyS to celebrate their Silver Wedding Anniversary.

[Jay_Jay]

From memory, yes, they do mate for life, Wendy; and I see from the RSPB site they have an longevity of around 16 years. So maybe they are indeed the children of your P and P.

[WendyS]

Gosh - 16 years is quite a lifespan for a wild bird, isn't it? We often have a maverick visiting collared dove who lurks around in the nearby trees. Every so often he will swoop down on our pair who are just sitting quietly together on the roof of the bird table with a real screech but the "husband" always chases him off with angry screams. He must be the jilted lover but he never gives up.

[Jay_Jay]

This interloper's mate just may have been 'catted' or hit by a car or met with another fate and now he may be trying to 'muscle in' on the well-established double act.

[winston62]

hi wendyS i think collard doves mate for life because i've lived in my house for 9 years now & we seem to get the same pair year after year