Spotted Dove

The Spotted Dove is a slender, gentle-looking dove with pale pinkish-brown upperparts, a soft grey head, and paler underparts. Its most distinctive feature is a broad black patch on the hindneck and upper back finely covered with small white spots, resembling a lace collar, which is visible even at a distance and gives the species its common name.

A highly adaptable and familiar bird across much of South and East Asia, it thrives in a wide variety of open and semi-open habitats, including busy urban areas, and has also become well established as an introduced species in parts of Australia and the United States.

Key field marks

• Pale pinkish-brown body with a soft grey head
• Broad black patch on the back of the neck, finely spotted with white, resembling a beaded collar
• Slim build and long, graduated tail with white outer tail feather tips
• Reddish-brown eye and pinkish legs

Similar species

• Oriental Turtle Dove is larger and darker with a scaly rufous-and-black back and a striped (not spotted) neck patch.
• Eurasian Collared Dove has a plain, unspotted black half-collar on the nape rather than a spotted patch.

Habitat

Thrives in open woodland, farmland, scrub, gardens, and especially urban and suburban areas with scattered trees.

Range

Native across South and Southeast Asia into eastern China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan; introduced and now established in parts of Australia, Hawaii, and the mainland United States.

Migration

Generally resident and non-migratory throughout its range.

Behavior

Often seen alone, in pairs, or in small groups foraging on the ground; tame and tolerant of people, common in city parks and residential neighborhoods.

Voice

A soft, rhythmic cooing, often described as "coo-coo-croo," repeated steadily and frequently through the day.

Feeding

Forages mainly on the ground for seeds and grain, walking with a characteristic bobbing head motion.

Nesting

Builds a simple, flimsy platform nest of twigs in a tree, shrub, or on a building ledge; lays 2 white eggs.