Eurasian Collared-dove \ Streptopelia decaocto

The Eurasian Collared-dove (Streptopelia decaocto) is a medium-sized, slender dove with pale grey-buff plumage and a distinctive black half-collar on the back of the neck. It lives close to people, in cities, parks, gardens, farms and wooded wadis, feeding mainly on seeds and grain picked from the ground. Rarely recorded in the UAE before 1977, it has since spread dramatically and is now one of the country's most abundant resident breeding birds. Its soft, three-note cooing is one of the most familiar sounds of towns across the Middle East.