Species Use Database

European Turtle-dove
Streptopelia turtur

Used for Food and feed, Ceremony and ritual expression and Recreation in Europe

A. Species

Scientific name: Streptopelia turtur

Common name(s): European Turtle-dove

Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Vulnerable


B. Location of use

Geographic location(s):

  • Europe

Country/Region: Europe


C. Scale of assessment

Scale of assessment: Regional/Continental/Multi-country level

Name/Details of location: France, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, United Kingdom, northern Italy


D. Timescale of use

Start Year: 2013

End Year: 2014


E. Information about the use

How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat

Type of use: Extractive

Practice of use: Hunting and/or Trapping of live terrestrial and aerial animals

Lethal or non-lethal: Lethal

Does this use involve take/extraction of: The whole entire organism

Purpose(s) of end use: Food and feed, Ceremony and ritual expression and Recreation

Motivation of use: Income generation from trade (individual/household/community), Recreational and Traditional/Cultural/Spiritual

Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law


F. Information about the Users

Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: not recorded


G. Information about the sustainability of use

Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable

Details of assessment carried out: A particular sustainability index based on previous literature (see paper)

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: "The observed level of legal hunting across the European western flyway exceeded the theoretical maximal harvestable fraction (P) that the population can sustain in 67% of scenarios" (p.513; see referenced paper). "the current level of legal hunting along the western flyway far exceeds the potential levels of excess growth predicted for this population under the large majority of scenarios, suggesting that the current hunting take is likely to be unsustainable." (p.513-514; see referenced paper)

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: not recorded

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: not recorded

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: not recorded

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: not recorded


Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species

"a substantial reduction in the size of the current legal western flyway hunt is urgently required." (p.518; see referenced paper) "Along with the search for a sustainable hunting pressure on turtle doves in Western Europe, one should also consider the urgent need to implement effective agri-environmental and agri-forest habitat restoration measures, in particular to maintain or restore the carrying capacity of breeding and foraging habitats" (p.518; see referenced paper)


Record source

Information about the record source: scientific_pub

Date of publication/issue/production: 2020-01-01T00:00:00+0000

Source Reference(s):

Lormée, H., Barbraud, C., Peach, W., Carboneras, C., Lebreton, J.D., Moreno-Zarate, L., Bacon, L. and Eraud, C., 2020. Assessing the sustainability of harvest of the European Turtle-dove along the European western flyway. Bird Conservation International, 30(4), pp.506-521. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270919000479

Date of record entry: 2023-04-17