spotted dove

Spotted Dove is a stocky bird with square-tipped tail. Adult has pale brown upperparts, streaked with dark buff. Breast is pale pinkish-grey. Belly is white. Long tail is brown with white tips. When in flight, we can see the blackish flight feathers. Head is pale, pinkish to greyish. We can see a black patch finely spotted with white on the rear neck, between nape and upper back. Bill is blackish. Eyes are reddish-brown. Legs and feet are red. Both sexes are similar. Juvenile has duller plumage and lacks the rear neck patch.

Spotted Dove is often near human habitations. It frequents countries to mountains, villages, suburban areas and gardens. It also may be found in open woodlands and farmlands, and doesn’t frequent dense forests.

Spotted Dove feeds mainly on seeds and grains. Dove drinks by sucking and doesn’t have to tilt the head back to swallow.

Spotted Dove’s call is a sonorous cooing kou-kour-kour, a low coo-croo-coo, a soft te-croo-croo, and three notes “coo-coo-croo” with emphasis at the end.

The spotted dove (Spilopelia chinensis) is a small and somewhat long-tailed pigeon that is a common resident breeding bird across its native range on the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The species has been introduced into many parts of the world and feral populations have become established. This species was formerly included in the genus Streptopelia with other turtle-doves but studies suggest that they differ from typical members of that genus. This dove is long tailed buff brown with a white-spotted black collar patch on the back and sides of the neck. The tail tips are white and the wing coverts have light buff spots. There are considerable plumage variations across populations within its wide range. The species is found in light forests and gardens as well as in urban areas. They fly from the ground with an explosive flutter and will sometimes glide down to a perch. It is sometimes also called the mountain dove pearl-necked dove lace-necked dove or spotted turtle-dove. The ground colour of this long and slim dove is rosy buff below shading grey on the head and belly. There is a half collar on the back and sides of the neck made of black feathers that bifurcate and have white spots at the two tips. The back has brown feathers with rufous spots in the Indian and subspecies. The lesser median coverts are grey brown. The Indian populations have these coverts with rosy spots at the tip divided by a widening dark grey streak along the shaft. The primary coverts are dark brown. The wing feathers are dark brown with grey edges. The centre of the abdomen and vent are white. The outer tail feathers are tipped in white and become visible when the bird takes off. Sexes are similar but juveniles are duller than adults and do not acquire the neck spots until they are mature. The length ranges from 28 to 32 centimetres (11.2 to 12.8 inches). Abnormal plumages such as leucism can sometimes occur in the wild.