<I>Photo by Dr. Madeline Kalbach</I>

PENINSULA – Whether because more or better-trained people are looking, or because a changing climate is changing their ranges, more out-of-the-way birds are turning up on Washington’s outer coast.

The Eurasian collared-dove is a large, light tan colored dove with a black-hind collar. It is quite pale compared to the mourning dove and is larger than both the mourning dove and the rock pigeon.

According to the Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds (2008), the Eurasian collared-dove is native to Eurasia. It was released in the Bahamas in the 1970s, and since then its population has expanded across North America. By 1980 it was well established in Florida. The Eurasian collared-dove is usually found as a single bird or in a pair. A single bird has been sighted on the Peninsula.