Problem Solving

Are Eurasian Collared Doves Protected?

In the US, no. Federal law leaves them out, and Texas, California and Wisconsin set no season and no limit. In Canada, yes: they are a protected migratory bird, hunted only in an open season. Arkansas and Oklahoma sit in between, with no bag limit but only in dove season.

Not in the United States, and yes in Canada. US federal law does not protect the Eurasian collared-dove, because it is not a native bird. So the answer turns on your state. Texas, California and Wisconsin set no closed season and no bag limit. Arkansas and Oklahoma put the bird in their dove seasons, with no bag limit. Canada is the reverse. The bird is on the federal list of protected birds, and it may be hunted only in an open season.

A feeder adds a second problem. Mourning doves feed beside collared-doves, and they are protected in both countries. Out of season, shooting one breaks federal law. In the US, so does hunting them over bait, and a feeder is bait. Your town's gun laws apply on top of all of it.

This page reads the federal rules in both countries and five state rules, each in its own text or on the wildlife agency's page. Keeping a found collared-dove feather is covered on is it illegal to keep bird feathers.

What "protected" means here#

The Eurasian collared-dove is a pale, sandy-gray dove a little bigger than a mourning dove. It has a thin black half-collar on the back of the neck and a square tail. It is native to Asia and Europe. It spread across North America after birds escaped in the Bahamas in the 1970s, as our Eurasian collared-dove profile traces.

The question depends on a few legal words.

• Protected. A protected bird may not be killed, captured or kept unless a rule allows it. In the US, the federal list sits in 50 CFR 10.13. In Canada, it is the list under the Migratory Birds Convention Act.
• Take. Wildlife laws say take where most people say kill or capture. Shooting counts.
• Unprotected. A label some states use for birds and animals with no closed season and no limit. It does not mean anything goes. A license and the usual hunting methods can still apply.
• Open season. The dates when a species may be hunted. Outside them, hunting it is an offense.
• Bag limit and possession limit. The bag limit is how many you may take in a day. The possession limit is how many you may hold at once, at home or in the field.
• Fully dressed. A bird with the head and wings taken off. Some states count a dressed collared-dove against the mourning dove limit, because no one can tell the two apart once the feathers are gone.

So "unprotected" and "legal to shoot in my yard" are not the same thing. The first is about the bird. The second also depends on licenses, seasons and the rules for firing a gun where you live.

The rules we read#

Read the "When" column first. It is where the places differ most.

Three of five states we read let you take the bird any day of the year. Two tie it to dove season. Canada protects it outright.

Why the answers online disagree#

Search the question and you get two answers. One says collared-doves are invasive, so you can shoot them any time. The other says all doves are protected. Each is true somewhere, and wrong as a general rule.

"Shoot them any time" is federal law in the US, and state law in Texas, California and Wisconsin. Most of the hunting forum threads that come up are from those states. But a state can treat the bird as game, and two of the five we read do. In Arkansas and Oklahoma the collared-dove sits in the same rule as the mourning dove, with the same dates. The only difference is the missing bag limit.

"All doves are protected" is right for the mourning dove, the white-winged dove and the Inca dove. All three are on the US federal list. It is wrong for the collared-dove in the US. And it is the right answer in Canada, which is why a British Columbia hunter and a Texas hunter can read the same question and give opposite answers. Canada keeps the bird on its list even though it is not native, for reasons explained below.

One dove walked through three places#

Take a collared-dove eating spilled millet under a platform feeder on a March morning. Suppose the yard is rural, and shooting there is allowed by local rules. Here is how the same bird fares in three places.

1. Wisconsin. The bird is unprotected under NR 10.04(2). No closed season applies, so March is fine. No bag limit applies. The note to the rule still says you must hold a hunting or trapping license and follow the chapter's rules on methods.
2. Arkansas. The dove seasons in rule B1.01 run from the first Saturday of September to the fourth Sunday in October, then for the 39 days up to and including January 15. March is in neither. We found no rule that opens the bird to hunting outside those dates.
3. British Columbia. The bird is federally protected. Section 28 of the federal Migratory Birds Regulations bans hunting a migratory game bird outside its open season. BC's only season is September 1 to 30, and only in Districts 3, 4 and 8. March is closed everywhere in the province.

Now add one fact. A mourning dove lands beside the collared-dove. In Wisconsin and Arkansas, that bird is federally protected and out of season in March. A shot that hits it breaks federal law, whatever the state says about the collared-dove. In BC, the two doves share a single season and a single limit, so the answer for both is the same: not in March.

US federal law: left out on purpose#

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act protects the birds on the list in 50 CFR 10.13. Its doves and pigeons include the mourning dove, white-winged dove, Inca dove, common ground dove and band-tailed pigeon. Streptopelia decaocto, the Eurasian collared-dove, is not among them.

That gap is deliberate. A 2020 notice from the Fish and Wildlife Service explains it. The Migratory Bird Treaty Reform Act of 2004 says the Act "applies only to migratory bird species that are native to the United States or U.S. territories." It told the service to publish a list of introduced birds the Act does not cover. The 2020 list names the Eurasian collared-dove. It also names the spotted dove and the African collared-dove.

Federal law then has nothing to say about the bird. Whether you may shoot it is left to your state. The same is true of the house sparrow, the starling and the rock pigeon, as read on is it legal to trap house sparrows.

Canada: protected "for historical reasons"#

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) keeps the list of birds protected under the Migratory Birds Convention Act. Its page, modified April 16, 2026, lists the Eurasian collared-dove. It also says why, since the bird is not native. "Three introduced (non-native) species do not meet criterion 2 but are protected for historical reasons." The three are the mute swan, the Eurasian collared-dove and the sky lark. The rock pigeon is not on the list at all.

Protected does not mean never hunted. Doves are game birds in Canada, and the Migratory Birds Regulations, 2022 set the rules. Section 27 says no one may hunt migratory game birds "unless authorized by these Regulations." Section 28 bans hunting a species outside its open season for the area. The regulations even name the bird once more. Section 38(2) exempts hunting the Eurasian collared-dove from the rule on non-toxic shot.

We read the schedule for British Columbia, through the regulations and ECCC's summary for August 2026 to July 2027. Mourning doves and Eurasian collared-doves are counted together. In Districts 3, 4 and 8 the season runs September 1 to 30, with 5 a day and 15 in possession. Districts 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7 have no open season. We did not read the schedules for other provinces.

Outside a season, the regulations offer two routes for birds causing damage. Section 63 lets anyone scare migratory birds without a permit, using equipment "other than an aircraft or firearms." Section 65 lets the federal minister issue a scaring or killing permit to someone who owns, leases or manages land. It covers birds "causing or are likely to cause danger to human health or public safety or damage to agricultural, environmental or other interests." It is a permit you apply for first, not a right. Feeder bylaws in Canadian towns are on are bird feeders illegal in Canada.

Texas: no closed season#

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) dove page for 2026-27 is short on this bird. "There is no closed season or bag limit restrictions for Eurasian collared-doves; however, it is recommended that plumage be left on these birds for identification purposes." It says the same of rock pigeons.

The advice on plumage matters because Texas mourning and white-winged doves do have seasons and limits. A game warden who stops you with a bag of dressed doves cannot tell which kind they were. Leave the feathers on, and the question answers itself. More on feeding in the state: Texas.

California: all year, with a license#

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) lists the Eurasian collared-dove among its upland game birds. The season is "All Year" and the limit is "No limit." The spotted dove and ringed turtle-dove are listed with no limit too.

California still asks for paperwork. A hunter needs a hunting license and an upland game bird validation, unless hunting on a junior license. The state also requires nonlead ammunition for all hunting with a firearm. So in California the bird is open all year, but you still need a license. Regional feeding: California.

Wisconsin: unprotected, but licensed#

Wisconsin's rule is NR 10.04, titled "Unprotected wild animals." It says "no closed season, bag limit, size limit, or possession limit applies to these animals." Subsection (2) names the birds: "Chukar partridge, coturnix quail, English sparrows, Eurasian collared doves, and starlings."

A note under the rule adds the condition people miss. "Persons taking unprotected animals must possess a hunting or trapping license and comply with all method of taking requirements of this chapter." So the bird has no season, but the person still needs a license. A second note says the state treats pigeons as domestic animals, outside the chapter. Regional feeding: the Midwest.

Arkansas: dove season, and feathers on#

Arkansas sets dove hunting in Code B1.01, titled "Mourning, White Winged, and Eurasian Collared Dove Season and Limits." The rule's two seasons run from the first Saturday of September to the fourth Sunday in October, and for the 39 days up to and including January 15. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) gives the 2026-27 dates as September 5 to October 25, 2026, and December 8, 2026 to January 15, 2027.

Mourning and white-winged doves have a daily limit of 15 and a possession limit of 45. For the Eurasian collared-dove there is "no limit" on either. One condition comes with that. "Eurasian Collared Doves must remain fully feathered in the field and while being transported from the field." Neither the rule nor the AGFC page gives the bird any dates outside the two seasons.

Oklahoma: the head-or-wing rule#

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) puts all three doves on one page, titled "Dove (Mourning, White-Winged & Eurasian Collared)." The 2026 seasons are September 1 to October 31 and December 1 to 29. The limit is 15 a day, with 30 in possession after the first day and 45 after the second.

The collared-dove is in that limit only if dressed. The limit "may consist of any combination (aggregate) of mourning doves, white-winged, and fully dressed" Eurasian collared-doves. But "there is no bag limit on Eurasian collared doves if the head or one fully feathered wing remains naturally attached" until the birds reach their final destination. Like Arkansas, the page gives the bird no dates outside the dove seasons. The state's own field guide calls it "the largest of Oklahoma's three common doves."

The mourning dove on the same feeder#

This is where a feeder changes the answer. Mourning doves come to the same seed, often in the same flock. The mourning dove is on the US federal list, so it may be hunted only in a state's season, within its limit. Out of season, a mourning dove shot by mistake is an unlawful take, even in a state where the collared-dove is fair game all year.

The feeder also counts as bait. Federal hunting rules in 50 CFR 20.21(i) bar hunting migratory game birds "by the aid of baiting, or on or over any baited area, where a person knows or reasonably should know that the area is or has been baited." Section 20.11 says doves and pigeons are migratory game birds. It defines a baited area as any place where grain or other feed has been put out that could lure them. The area stays baited for ten days after all the feed is gone. A feeder you filled yourself is about as clear a case of knowing as there is. So even inside dove season, the mourning doves at your own feeder are not legal to hunt there.

Telling the two apart comes down to three marks, set out in the collared-dove profile. The collared-dove has a black crescent on the back of the neck and a square tail with a broad white tip. The mourning dove has a long pointed tail, black spots on the wing and no collar. Young collared-doves may lack the collar, so the tail is the safer mark. This is the reason Arkansas wants the feathers left on.

The gun is a separate question#

Every rule above is about the bird. None of them lets you fire a gun or an air rifle where your town forbids it. Some states set fixed distances from houses, as covered on the groundhog page. Town rules are under municipal and county ordinances. In a suburban yard, this is usually the rule that decides the question, long before the bird's status does.

Fewer doves without a gun#

Most people asking this want fewer doves, not a hunt. Collared-doves cannot cling to small perches. They feed on the ground and on wide trays, and they take cracked corn, milo and millet readily. A yard that serves sunflower and nyjer in tube feeders, with a tray to catch spill, gets far fewer of them, as the profile explains. Cutting the ground seed also helps with seed mess and dead grass. Dense dove flocks at one feeder can also spread trichomonosis, a disease called canker in doves. What to do is on dead doves under the feeder.

Where this page stops applying#

This page reads US and Canadian federal law, five states and one province. We did not read Kansas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida or any other state, or any province but British Columbia. We did not read the license rules in Texas, Arkansas or Oklahoma, or the penalty for breaking any of these rules. For Arkansas and Oklahoma, we read the season rule and found no opening outside it. We did not read every other rule in those states. The baiting rule we quote is written for migratory game birds, and we found nothing that applies it to a collared-dove alone. Seasons change every year, and the dates here are for 2026-27. City firearm rules, cruelty laws and rules on air guns were not read for any place. This is a reading of rules and agency pages, not legal advice.