Turtle Doves Return to the South West After Landmark Rewilding Release Programme
Endangered birds complete migration to Africa and back as pioneering reintroduction project shows early signs of success.
One of Britain's most endangered birds is showing encouraging signs of recovery in the South West after turtle doves released across Devon and Somerset last year were recorded back in the region. The sightings provide the strongest evidence yet that a pioneering conservation project led by Rewilding Coombeshead could help restore the species to western Britain.
In May 2025, a total of 244 turtle doves were released across three rewilding sites in the South West, including 70 birds at Rewilding Coombeshead in Devon, 124 at Cannwood Estate in Somerset and a further 50 at Cove Valley in Devon. Their return this spring marks a significant milestone for the project, with birds recorded at all three sites after completing the species' extraordinary migration to sub-Saharan Africa and back.
Derek Gow, founder of Rewilding Coombeshead said: "We knew the birds could survive and breed here. The real test was whether they could complete one of the most challenging migrations undertaken by any British bird and return to the places where they were released. The fact that we are now recording returning turtle doves across multiple sites is incredibly encouraging. It suggests we are beginning to rebuild populations in parts of Britain where the species has all but disappeared. These are still early days, but this is exactly the outcome we hoped to see."
Additional sightings have also been recorded elsewhere in the South West, including Cornwall, suggesting the birds are beginning to establish themselves more widely across the region.
Once a familiar sight across Britain, the turtle dove is now the UK's fastest-declining bird species. Today, just 2,100 breeding pairs remain, largely confined to parts of Kent, Suffolk and Essex. Red-listed and on the verge of extinction in the UK, the species is considered functionally extinct across much of western Britain, no longer breeding in Wales, Scotland or Ireland.
The project originally began in late 2023 with the creation of three purpose-built release aviaries designed to help captive-bred turtle doves acclimatise to life in the wild. Following their release in
May 2025, the birds quickly established themselves across the landscape, with their distinctive purring call once again heard in parts of the country where the species had long been absent. Birds were observed building nests, breeding and raising young before departing for Africa that autumn.
At Cannwood Estate, an organised monitoring programme combining field observations with remote acoustic monitoring devices has documented multiple returning birds stating: "This spring our monitoring team recorded six sightings, the first of which was on 3rd May. They have been seen, heard and recorded on our remote audio recording devices that are dotted around the farm. We expect to see and hear more turtle doves as the season rolls on and are especially hopeful to record doves at one or all of our dedicated feeding stations. As the project continues through the years we expect to record a growing population of turtle doves at Cannwood and the wider area."
The project will continue with further reinforcement releases during 2026 and 2027 across all three locations. As part of the next phase of the programme, a number of birds released this year will be fitted with satellite tags, allowing conservationists to track their migration routes and gain valuable new insights into the challenges turtle doves face during their journeys between Britain and Africa. Project partners hope that continued releases, combined with suitable habitat management, will establish a self-sustaining breeding population of turtle doves in western Britain within the next three years.
