Eurasian collared dove population control carried out in the Azores

Sept. 7, 2023

Following the concerns from various agricultural producers and cooperatives throughout the archipelago, as well as from the Azores Agricultural Federation, and in response to a request from the Regional Secretariat for Agriculture and Rural Development, the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Change carried out a field survey in July and August to assess the possible impacts caused by wild birds. This survey focused on the impact of bird species, such as the Eurasian collared dove (Streptopelia decaocto), the Azores wood pigeon (Columba palumbus azorica), the Azores blackbird (Turdus merula azorensis) and the rock dove (Columba livia), on horticultural, fruit and wine productions."

The Regional Secretary for the Environment and Climate Change, Alonso Miguel, revealed that "the data collected during the survey carried out in the areas where the situations were reported indicates that, among 6,990 birds sampled, the most commonly observed species was the rock dove, representing 44 percent of the total number of birds observed, followed by the Eurasian collared dove (36 percent), the blackbird (6 percent) and the wood pigeon (2 percent)."

"The blackbird and the wood pigeon are subspecies endemic to the Azores, while the Eurasian collared dove is a native species. All three species are protected by regional legislation, under the Legal Framework for Nature Conservation and Biodiversity Protection, as well as by EU legislation, namely the Birds Directive and the Convention on the Protection of Wildlife, known as the Bern Convention," he clarified.

Alonso Miguel also pointed out that, given the fact that these are protected species, the regional environmental department had, on several occasions in the recent past, used non-lethal means to promote the dispersal of birds, such as the use of cannons, although admitting that the measure had been unsuccessful, since "the birds had become accustomed to the sounds produced by these devices."

The Regional Secretary stressed that "the reasons why species are awarded different protection statuses are related to their importance and the need to maintain their populations in a favourable state of conservation. However, when populations reach excessive densities, causing serious damage to economic activities, crops, water, forest and wildlife resources and public and private property, while also jeopardising other priority public interests, the European legislation, namely the Birds Directive and the Bern Convention, as well as regional legislation itself, namely the Legal Framework for Nature Conservation and Biodiversity Protection, provide for the control of the population density of protected species."

The government official noted that with this framework and in the absence of effective alternatives with the use of non-lethal methods in the past, in previous legislative periods, the option was to authorise population density control procedures for certain protected bird species.

"Analysing the results of the survey now carried out, the vast majority of specimens observed are rock doves. However, as this is a game species, the population density can be controlled by hunting, at certain times, under the terms defined by the Regional Directorate for Forest Resources," he added.

Alonso Miguel clarified that, at the moment, there is no evidence to support population density control in the case of blackbirds and wood pigeons, as the observations made did not reveal a significant number of these protected species at the sites concerned, unlike the Eurasian collared dove, which is very abundant, accounting for 36% of all the birds observed.

The Regional Secretary explained that, according to the Red List of Threatened Species 2020 of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the status of the Eurasian collared dove is listed as being of "low concern," with a population "considered stable worldwide."

The surveys carried out have shown the existence of a large predominance of the Eurasian collared dove species, consistent with the results of the 2022 Azores Wild Bird Census, which revealed that this species is in a favourable state of conservation in its natural distribution areas on all the islands. It is also considered that certain population density control actions, during the grape ripening period, harvests and crop rotation on farms, are not detrimental to the maintenance of the respective populations . In view of the above, the Regional Government has decided, pursuant to a joint order of the Regional Secretariat for Agriculture and Rural Development and the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Change, to authorise the population control of the Eurasian collared dove species, with a view to avoiding serious damage to agricultural production and livestock farms in the Autonomous Region of the Azores."

"These operations to control the Eurasian collared dove population density will be authorised for a period of two months, from September 11 to November 11, 2023, in compliance with all the legal provisions in force. The requests should be made to the Environment and Climate Change Services of each island for analysis and decision within a maximum of five working days," said the government official.