General Description: Eurasian Collared-Doves (Streptopelia decaocto) are large, light colored doves with a black collar on the back of the neck and dark primary feathers. Sexes alike. Young birds are brownish or have brown spots and lack the neck band.

Taxonomy: Columbiformes, Columbidae.

Favored Habitat: Seems to prefer suburban areas, but found widely.

Where to Find: Eurasian Collared-Doves have become common around Las Vegas. During about 2007-2009, Eurasian Collared-Doves expanded their range into the Las Vegas area and have since became common.

Comments: This species is native to the Old World and currently is expanding its range northward and westward.

This Eurasian species was imported to the Bahamas in the mid-1970s and became common there in the wild. In the early 1980s, they were reported in Florida. They expanded rapidly, and in 2002 this species had been added to the state lists of Arizona, Oregon, and Washington. In 2013, I recorded several in Alaska.