By Jessica Domel
Multimedia Reporter

In an effort to learn more about invasive Eurasian Collared Doves, and their impact on native species, the Texas Dove Hunters Association is gearing up for another Banded Bird Challenge.

The challenge is an opportunity for dove hunters to win one of several prizes for reporting any Eurasian Collared Doves they bag with an orange tag.

“The Eurasian Collared Dove is an invasive species in Texas,” Bobby Thornton, co-founder of the Texas Dove Hunters Association, said. “There’s some good studies out there on the life expectancy of these birds and things like that, but we want to do an infield study that tells us where these birds are headed, why they’re moving, how far do they move and if they move.”

There isn’t currently a federal program studying the doves and their potential impacts.

Each year, the association traps Eurasian Collared Doves, and places the orange tags on their legs.

Then, when hunters report the bands, that information is used to analyze the birds’ habits.

“We’re doing in-house studies,” Thornton told the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. “The biologists all tell us three to five years is really not quite enough to get good data on consistencies, so we’re waiting until after year five before we actually finalize this with a biologist in a form in which we’re ready to turn it over to U.S. Fish and Wildlife.”

The association is looking at the data they already have on the number of days the doves stay in the field, their age and habitat.

“We can look at how far they’ve traveled and in how many days,” Thornton said. “We’ve got some very interesting information from birds that have been harvested. We had one that was 938 days old, and it had traveled 120 miles.”

One dove traveled less than a mile after being infield for 227 days.

“That’s what we’re trying to study the most—the direction in which they’re headed from the place they were released to the place they were harvested,” Thornton said.

To help further the research, hunters can enter the Banded Bird Challenge and report any banded Eurasian Collared Doves they harvest during dove season.

Early bird registration for the challenge is underway and continues through July 15. Those who enter will be entered into a drawing to win a shotgun.

“Anyone who enters between April 1 and May 31 will receive double their entry into the early bird drawing,” Thornton said. “The drawing takes place on July 16.”

The Banded Bird Challenge runs Sept. 1-Dec. 31.

There is one major change to this year’s challenge. Hunters must enter the challenge before midnight Aug. 31 to be eligible to win a prize.

“By the grace of Hoffpauir Polaris, we got a nice Polaris. We have great exotic game hunts. We have a new prize this year, an offshore fishing trip,” Thornton said. “We got some great leather products like we normally do-our bird bag and gun sleeves.”

High school students also have the opportunity to win a college scholarship.

Entry into the challenge is $20. Youth ages 10-13 may enter for free.

Details are available at BandedBirdChallenge.com.