Conservationists race to rescue England's turtle doves from extinction

Hundreds of turtle doves are being released this summer as conservationists race against the clock to save the species from extinction in England.
The cooing doves, which mate for life, are the fastest-declining bird species in the country. Just 2,000 pairs are left, a decline of 98% since the 1970s. This is because their habitats of scrubby areas have been destroyed and thousands are shot on their migratory route across Europe.
But their distinctive purr can now be heard on estates in Somerset, Exeter, Suffolk, Lincolnshire and Norfolk as an audacious plan to breed and release hundreds of birds gets off the ground.
King Charles has become involved by allowing the Turtle Dove Trust to build an aviary on his Sandringham estate. He can enjoy the sight of 200 birds when he visits because he is using his land as a breeding ground. The estate says the land is ideal because its coppices, meadows, ponds and waterways are a suitable habitat for the birds as well as a rich in food.
Ben Goldsmith, a conservationist and financier, has been working with the trust to release 200 birds on his Somerset farm this year.
'Where I am in Somerset, no turtle doves have been seen in living memory,' Goldsmith said. 'None of my neighbours ever remember seeing turtle doves there. Now, all of our oak trees seem to have a pair of turtle doves purring away. It makes me supremely happy. It's as if this sound was designed to calm the human soul.'
He obtained his doves from Trevor and Deborah Lay, who for years ran a breeding business, selling swans, cranes and other birds across Europe. However, bird flu and Brexit meant they had to shut this down because it became impossible for them to export. Instead, the couple have been using their skills to breed hundreds of turtle doves for the trust at their Suffolk base.
Last year, they reared 800 young doves, most of which have been given out to aviaries across the country.
Trevor Lay thinks the birds migrate to Africa and back and this year has a chance to prove it: 'This year we fixed trackers on 20 birds so that hopefully this autumn we will be able to see the birds flying, migrating. They are nesting locally too, they have spread out around the area and we have had a lot of sightings reported of our birds on our website.'
Because of their rapid decline, Lay believes it is imperative to breed and release the birds now, before they vanish from the English countryside completely: 'Farmers have been improving their land for turtle doves in the last decade, planting wildflowers and hedges. We are putting them back so everybody can see, hear and enjoy them again sooner and hopefully in their lifetimes and not in 50 or 100 years. We wanted to put something back.
'They are lovely little birds – they are beautiful – and this is something we can do to help them.'
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If the hundreds released each year do well, the project could rapidly scale up the turtle dove population.
Goldsmith has been enjoying their return to his land: 'You find yourself outside on a summer's day and all you hear is the purring of turtle doves singing to each other. They always move in pairs and take every opportunity to kiss and preen each other. I knew they were a symbol of love but now I really know why.'
He wants everyone to be able to experience this wonder: 'Now I realise what we have lost – it's a birthright that's been robbed from us. I can't believe I'd never heard them before and this was the sound our ancestors heard as the sound of summer in England. The bird is on the brink of disappearing so we need to roll the dice and have a go, and just get on and do it and release them.'
Lay agreed: 'We have the advantage of doing it on a shoestring and getting on with it and not having to spend decades doing feasibility schemes like some larger nature organisations have to. The environment is so much better than it was 10, 20 years ago because of what farmers have been doing to improve their land for wildlife and nature. So we are putting that nature back.'

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