AZ has unlimited harvest of these dove and open all year around. They are bigger atleast by looking at them. I am wondering if they are any good or how they compare to mourning and whitewing dove. Anyone fixed them?
Sorry for the spelling but yep we have the Eurasian and African Collared Dove in AZ according the the game and fish http://www.azgfd.gov/h_f/game_mourning_dove.shtml I have seen bigger than normal dove with a black collar around the neck. Glad they are fair game year around. Give me and dad something to do and I bet they make good catfish bait.
I have,to me they taste a little like liver,but I may have overcooked them. They are in between a Whitewing and a pigeon in size. In NM the is no limit on them,but,once you limit out on Morning/Whitewing your day is done.
We eat them. They have a stronger flavor than the Mourning and White-winged doves, but are certainly edible. We either do ours in casseroles baked in the oven or I marinade them overnight and grill them with barbecue sauce to keep them from drying out.
My college wildlife professer went to school in AZ and he said on top of the dorm they sat traps for them and ate them all the time. I've never tried them but he said they were good. Of course he's kinda like me and will eat anything.
The collared doves I have seen in the SE appeared to be smaller or equally sized with local doves. Tn does not count them against the bag limit, but I have yet to see one here. Those I have seen were in Mobile AL. Wrap breast halves in bacon, grill over charcoal and I bet they are good.
I have eaten them and all dove tastes like liver to me! My favorite way to eat dark meat birds is to marinate in zesty italian dressing and bottled jalepenos then grill.
Never noticed a difference expcept for the size. They are considerably larger. We either fry them or grill them in a baking pan, wrapped in bacon with a jalepeno slice in the middle. We sometimes add cream cheese if we're feeling frisky. Perfect with jalepeno poppers.
They smell more like a pigeon than a dove and have a stronger taste which can be mitigated by soaking in cold water a day or two with a pinch of baking soda.
Dove always tasted like liver to me until I was shown to cook until barely done, whether fried or grilled (with a slice of jalepenos stuck in the breast, marinated in teriyaki, wrapped in bacon). If pink juices run out the meat will then be tender and delicious.
i eat them, and will have some for dinner tomorrow. pluck 6-10 of em', put in a baking dish, sprinkle with cavenders, add one can cream of mushroom soup, cover and bake at 350 for an hour. make some rice too. very good meal imo.
we have lots of them here but they have a habit of hanging out in areas where there are too many buildings to shoot them. There's no closed season or limit on them if you can shoot them safely.
They taste fine. I like the dark meated birds in general, and the collared doves seem a lot like mourning doves, maybe a bit more flavorful. I was raised on wild game, and I don't mind some flavor, so I don't do things to change, disguise or hide it.
One way all doves are good is in spaghetti sauce. I bone off the two sides of the skinned breasts and use them as the meat in a marinara sauce.
Thanks guys. My dad said there is a big white one with a black ring around the neck hanging around the house. Thought it was a pigeon, but said it was a dove. So he is gonna break out the pellet gun and try to get him.
I'm due for a good dove hunt. Might go visit Greg soon.
Thanks for the heads up on the taste and cooking tips.
Haven't tasted any difference between any of the doves. My favorite way to eat em is to salt&pepper then brown then throw in the crockpot with cream of whatever soup and some onion, cook for a couple hours then throw in some taters, go till taters are done and eat
You can't tell the difference in taste from white wings and mourning doves if you wrap them in a pepper and bacon and grill them. I've eaten as many of them as I have white wings and there's no difference to me... Grub up...
We've not seen much difference in the taste from Mournings, but they are a bit larger, which is good. They're a bit slower, too, which is realllly good for me..
We're gonna try the Atomic Buffalo turds this year. Just a bit different from the way we usually cook 'em.
Thanks guys. My dad said there is a big white one with a black ring around the neck hanging around the house. Thought it was a pigeon, but said it was a dove. So he is gonna break out the pellet gun and try to get him.
I'm due for a good dove hunt. Might go visit Greg soon.
Thanks for the heads up on the taste and cooking tips.
Kique
Your description doesn't sound like a collared dove. They aren't white. They're about the color of a mourning dove, maybe a slightly lighter brown. Also, they don't have a ring around the neck. It's a black stripe across the back of the neck. It doesn't come around to the front. They can be recognized by their call, though. It's a 3 note coo. 2 coo's together, followed by a slight pause and a 3d coo. It sound's nothing like a mourning dove and is distinctly different than pigeons.
In the past few years I have had collared doves (two or three pairs) visit my feeder and even nest on the ground in my bushes.
Here are a couple of interesting links to the collared doves in the U.S. and a piece about the first reported sighting of a collared dove in Oklahoma back in 1995.
Thanks guys. My dad said there is a big white one with a black ring around the neck hanging around the house. Thought it was a pigeon, but said it was a dove. So he is gonna break out the pellet gun and try to get him.
I'm due for a good dove hunt. Might go visit Greg soon.
Thanks for the heads up on the taste and cooking tips.
Kique
Your description doesn't sound like a collared dove. They aren't white. They're about the color of a mourning dove, maybe a slightly lighter brown. Also, they don't have a ring around the neck. It's a black stripe across the back of the neck. It doesn't come around to the front. They can be recognized by their call, though. It's a 3 note coo. 2 coo's together, followed by a slight pause and a 3d coo. It sound's nothing like a mourning dove and is distinctly different than pigeons.
There's tons of collared doves that roost in big dead tree behind my house and there's one that's all white. I need to break out the spotting and see if has a collar or not. It's the same shape and size of the other doves but I don't know if it's an albino collared dove or a white dove that somehow got loose.
We have them here and they range in color from the normal dove to mostly white. They cook up just like doves as well as feral rock doves. Marinate them in what ever you like,but we take the meat off the breast bone.
There's tons of collared doves that roost in big dead tree behind my house and there's one that's all white. I need to break out the spotting and see if has a collar or not. It's the same shape and size of the other doves but I don't know if it's an albino collared dove or a white dove that somehow got loose.
I think collared doves, the white phase, are the ones that they release at weddings and stuff, and how they got here.
.
![[Linked Image]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/Streptopelia_decaocto_-balcony_-two-8.jpg/250px-Streptopelia_decaocto_-balcony_-two-8.jpg)