The turtle dove is Britain's fastest declining bird species. Its multi-factor decline involves habitat loss, Trichomonas disease, and hunting pressure during migration through Mediterranean countries.
Turtle doves arriving in the UK after long migration face depleted food sources due to loss of rough corners, wildflower strips, and traditional arable management. Birds breeding in the UK increasingly fail to fledge chicks successfully due to food limitation. Trichomonas infection — spreading from garden bird feeders where spillage creates contamination — causes prolonged throat disease that makes swallowing impossible, leading to slow starvation. Legal hunting of turtle doves during migration through France, Spain, and other Mediterranean countries adds mortality to an already severely declining population. Each of these factors causes individual welfare harm while collectively pushing the species toward extinction in the UK.