The importance of political, economic, and cultural factors in explaining fundamental ornithological problems (A case study from Bulgaria)
Part I. The range expansion of the Eurasian collared dove (Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838))
Wolfgang Baumgart1, Zlatozar N. Boev2*
1 – 13435 Berlin, Guhllener Zeile 9A, Germany
2 – National Museum of Natural History, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences,
1, Blvd. Tsar Osvoboditel, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria
*E-mail: boev@nmnhs.com, zlatozarboev@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8049-7509
Abstract. The process of the range expansion of Streptopelia decaocto in Bulgaria, the Balkans, Central and Western Europe and North America is explained by the cultural-religious and economic-political characteristics of the population. The main importance of the place of the Eurasian collared dove in the religious world of Muslims and the technology of collecting, storing and transporting the grain harvest are emphasized. It is assumed that in Europe and North America the process of the spread of the species was subject to the similar regularities.
Keywords: Balkan avifauna, Collared doves, Human impact on bird distribution, Recent birds of Bulgaria, Species range extension

