Red turtle dove

Red turtle dove
Male in Singapore
Female near Hodal in Faridabad District of Haryana, India
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Columbiformes
Family:	Columbidae
Genus:	Streptopelia
Species:	S. tranquebarica
Binomial name
Streptopelia tranquebarica (Hermann, 1804)

The red turtle dove (Streptopelia tranquebarica), also known as the red collared dove, is a small pigeon which is a resident breeding bird in the tropics in the Indian subcontinent.

Description

The male has a bluish head and light red-brown body with a black ring round its neck while the female is similar but is pinkish all over.

Habitat, distribution and status

This dove is essentially a plains species, extending to Taiwan and the Philippines but uncommon on the Malaysian archipelago, avoiding rocky foothill and an oriential species. There is however a summer migration into the broader cultivated valleys of Afghania where it breeds. It is the commonest dove throughout Punjab. It is a summer migrant visitor to India, where it is more or less resident. They prefer better-wooded tracts such as canal or roadside tree plantations and avoid extensive desert regions. When they first arrive they are often in small flocks, but they soon split up and start pair formation and breeding.

References

1. BirdLife International (2012). "Streptopelia tranquebarica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.