Oriental Turtle Dove

Alternative name: Rufous Turtle Dove

Nominate subspecies
Photo by Francksan
Hokkaido, Japan, August 2010

Streptopelia orientalis

Identification

33–35 cm (13-14 inches)

• Scaley buff-brown on back and wings (the feathers are black fringed with buff, grey, or red
• Black and white neck patches
• Long, grey, white-tipped tail

Subspecies S. o. erythrocephala
Photo by Alok Tewari
Bhimashankar WLS, Western Ghats, Dist. Pune, Maharashtra, India, Jan-2016

• Red legs
  

Sexes are similar

Similar species

in the western part of the range of Oriental Turtle-Dove and when this one occurs as a vagrant to Europe, European Turtle Dove is a relevant bird to look at.

Distribution

Asia: found in Siberia, Iran, India, China, Korea, south-east Asia, and southern Japan.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Subspecies S. o. meena
Photo by Alok Tewari
Kainchi Ashram, Dist. Nainital, Uttarakhand Himalayas, India, April-2015

There are six subspecies generally recognised^[1]:

• S. o. meena:

• South-western Siberia to Iran, Afghanistan, Kashmir and Nepal

• S. o. orientalis:

• Central Siberia to China, Korea, Japan and Kuril Islands

• S. o. stimpsoni :

• Ryukyu Islands

• S. o. orii:

• Taiwan

• S. o. erythrocephala:

• Peninsula India

• S. o. agricola:

• North-eastern India to Myanmar and south-central China (western Yunnan and Hainan Island)

Habitat

Forests and light woodland, city parks and gardens.

Behaviour

Diet

Their diet is mostly vegetarian, consisting of cereals and pine seeds, also shoots of various plants, including bamboo and herbs.

Breeding

The clutch consists of two white eggs which are laid in a twiggy tree nest.

Nominate subspecies
Photo by letsbefrank
Tonboike Park, Kishiwada, Japan, January 2016

References

Nominate subspecies
Photo by Stoop
Fukushimagata, Niigata, Japan, July 2011

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Birdforum thread discussing identification of European Turtle-Dove vs meena Oriental Turtle-Dove
3. Avibase
4. Wikipedia
5. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved June 2015)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Oriental Turtle Dove. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 23 November 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Oriental_Turtle_Dove

External Links

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