These doves (Streptopelia decaocto) invaded North America in the '80s. It did not take them long to occupy habitat as pests all the way to Alaska; see http://blog.nature.org/science/2014/02/18/eurasian-collared-dove-bird-count/ . I wrote an article in fall 2007 issue of The Ohio Cardinal (online at <http://ohiobirds.org/the-ohio-cardinal-archived-issues/> ) about this species and its inevitable occurrences in 0hio. These doves are not comfortable with rough terrain. The article hinted at the possibility that the Appalachians might thwart their occupation of Ohio, even while their spread continued northwest from Florida. Certainly they are not found everywhere here, as they are in many other states, and their numbers seem to be quite modest by comparison. They are regarded as a plague in many places in North America, but here we seem to be sheltered enough by the mountains and hill country between here and Florida as they spread northwest. These are not native birds, but if you want you can count them just like starlings. I think we are lucky to have a modest population that seems to be stable for the time being. Bill Whan Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]