Oriental Turtle Dove

The Oriental turtle dove closely resembles the European turtle dove, sharing its black-and-white striped neck patch of silver-tipped feathers and wedge-shaped tail. It is a little larger, with a less pink breast and browner wing feathers with dark centres that give a scaly look, and it lacks the turtle dove's bare patch of skin around the eye. Its flight is more relaxed and direct. The call is a four-syllable her-her-oo-oo, varying between populations. At least six subspecies are named, differing in plumage pattern (Wikipedia, general species account).

It ranges from Central Asia east to Japan, breeding in well-wooded open country and wintering in more open habitat with good tree cover; northern populations migrate south while tropical ones stay put. It feeds mainly on seeds on the ground. In display the male climbs with noisy wingbeats and glides down with the tail spread. Two white eggs are laid in a twig nest at mid-canopy height, and in Japan they hatched in 15–16 days. SoIB 2023 classes it as a migrant within India with a large range, finds its trends uncertain and rates it a Low conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).