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Spotted Dove
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If you have read our post titled "Bird of the Month || Year 2020", you probably know that our bird of the month of January is Dove or Pigeon. Cold and severe, January is a good time to turn inward and reflect. The thought of spending the day wrapped in your warmest quilt, reading and sipping on hot coffee, sometimes cracking peanuts while lounging in the winter sun, brings back memories from our childhood and that is why we chose the Dove as the bird of January 2020. Meditative, quiet, and gentle, doves inspire poetry, love, peace and all things good.
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| Oriental Turtle Dove |
Of all the doves I have seen so far. Oriental Turtle Dove is my favorite. And the reason is obvious. It is pretty, calm, and graceful. Its call is a soft longish purr, somehow a lot less irritating than that of the common pigeon. Like most pigeons, this dove also is mostly granivorous and can be found foraging for grains on the ground. Though this one that we clicked was sitting calmly, almost meditatively, in the tree.
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| Spotted Dove |
The Oriental Turtle Dove breeds in wooded habitats and the household duties are divided between the two mates. While the male gathers material for the nest, the female constructs it. They take turns to incubate the eggs. Birds that reside in higher altitudes migrate to lower altitudes during winter. This is a resilient bird and is found in a variety of habitats. The Turtle Dove is so named because of its call that sounds a lot like "turrr...turrr...turrr".
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| Spotted Dove |
Another dove that comes a close second is the Spotted Dove. It was earlier classified as the genus Streptopelia, essentially the same as the Oriental Turtle Dove, but based on studies that suggested that they were considerably different, the Spotted Dove was moved to the genus Spilopelia. The Spotted Dove is so-called, for its plumage, which is also considerably different from the Oriental Turtle Dove.
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| Spotted Dove |
The Spotted Dove has white spots on a black collar and rufus spots on its back, unlike the Oriental Turtle Dove, which has black and white bands on its collar and sea-shell like black and golden pattern on its back. Of the two, however, the Turtle Dove looks, much more like a work of art.
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| Laughing Dove |
One common dove that you may have seen around is the Laughing Dove (also known as Faakhta). This is a smallish, long-tailed dove that is so named because of its unique call, which sounds a little like a laughter. These are calm and peaceful creatures that look delicate, but can be quite daring. We had Laughing Doves breeding in our balcony for two seasons and they were pretty courageous. Wouldn't take flight even if we went into the balcony.
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| Rock Doves or Rock Pigeon |
The Laughing Dove is They have pinkish legs and undersides, an almost white vent, an dark brown wings. When these birds call, their neck expands and at that time, you cans see the black and buff checkerboard like pattern on their throat. The birds usually stick around in pairs, but are also seen in mixed gatherings of various kinds of doves.
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| Pet pigeons in Old Delhi |
Another dove that we have seen, but not clicked is the Eurasian Collared Dove. This dove has a black collar, whereas the rest of its body is greyish-brown. The dove is found throughout India and looks quite beautiful in flight. Apart from this, we have also seen Yellow-footed Green Pigeons several times in Delhi and one Emerald Dove in Himachal Pradesh. However, we were not able to click their photographs.
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| Leucist Rock Pigeon (a condition due to lack in pigmentation) |
The one dove that we should all talk about is the Common Pigeon, also known as the Rock Dove. While other urban birds have become rarer, these Doves have not only managed to stick around, but actually thrive. The birds make nests in building cavities and even try to hijack bird feeders you hang for smaller birds. These birds are fast fliers and aren't easy prey for flying predators. On the ground, it is a different story altogether. Sometimes you need to reach close to them and use your car horn to make them take flight when they are simply hanging around in the middle of the street.
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| Dove-studded Sky |
But yes, with the exception of the Rock Pigeon, all of these doves are peaceful and calm creatures and are definitely the most appropriate birds to celebrate for the month of January. We'll come back soon with a post about our bird of February, the Barbet.
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