Spotted Dove

The spotted dove is a long, slim pigeon, 28–32cm long, rosy buff below and greyer on the head and belly. Its best mark is a half collar on the back and sides of the neck made of black feathers split at the tips into white spots. In the Indian and Sri Lankan subspecies the wing coverts are brown with rufous spots. The outer tail feathers are tipped white and show as the bird takes off with an explosive flutter. The sexes are similar; juveniles are duller and lack the neck spots until mature (Wikipedia, general species account).

Native to the Indian subcontinent and East and Southeast Asia and introduced widely elsewhere, it uses woodland, scrub, farmland, gardens and towns. Pairs or small groups forage on the ground for grass seeds, grain and fallen fruit, occasionally taking insects such as winged termites. In display a bird climbs steeply with loud wing claps before gliding down. It was moved out of the genus Streptopelia after molecular studies. In India it is resident across a very large range; SoIB 2023 finds a current increase of about 3% a year and rates it a Low conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).