↑Streptopelia decaocto

The Bird That Conquered the World

In Spanish, this bird is known as the “Turkish dove”, and for a rather good reason. Originally, its area of distribution was limited to warm Asia, from Türkiye to southern China. It was only in 1838 when it was first sighted outside of this region, in Bulgaria, but even then it never traveled past the Balkan Peninsula.

…That is, until the 1930s, when the species began to disperse at a breakneck pace—chiefly towards the northwest. In 1945 it was seen in Germany; in 1948 it arrived in Denmark; Great Britain saw it first in 1952, with a breeding population being established four years later; Ireland was reached in 1959; and by the early 1970s it had also found its way to the Faroe Islands.

Its expansion also got to the mediterranean countries, part of the Scandinavian Peninsula (with a population in the Arctic Circle), and Russia up to the Ural Mountains, albeit later. It has also been sighted in Iceland, though only as vagrant and without establishing a stable population.

Its arrival to the Iberian Peninsula

In 1960, a specimen was seen in Asturias, but without getting established. It was also sighted in 1966 and 1971 in Cantabria. Nevertheless, the first time its reproduction was documented in the Peninsula happened in Santander in 1974. From there, it expanded throughout the Cantabrian Coast, also reaching northern Portugal. In 1983 it was documented in Castille and León, dispersing southward in the following years.

Between 1990 and 2002, it was already present throughout the entire Peninsula, as well as the Canary and Balearic Islands, but its spread didn’t stop. From then to 2018, its area of distribution increased by about 80%, appearing in small cities and rural areas where it was previously absent.

Its population growth was even more drastic. In 2014, there were an estimated 3 million reproductive specimens, about eleven times more than the 1998 population.

The colonization of the Americas

At the beginning of the 1970s, a pet breeder introduced this species in Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas. In December of 1974, no more than 50 specimens escaped captivity—by the next summer, its reproduction in the island had already been documented. Its population grew rapidly in New Providence, and from there it expanded to other islands in the archipelago.

It was first seen in mainland America towards the end of the decade around Homestead, Florida. From there, it spread throughout the USA. It reached southeastern Arkansas in 1989, and the northwest end in 1997. This amounts to a theretofore unseen expansion rate of about 100km per year, doubling the pace at which it traveled through Europe. Nowadays, the species is present throughout most of the USA and Mexico, as well as some parts of southern Canada and northern Guatemala.