Spotted Dove — Australian Bird Identification Guide

⚠️Not listed

🍃Indigenous: Spotted Turtle-Dove

At a glance

FamilyPigeons and Doves

SizeMedium

RarityCommon

HabitatA common garden bird throughout much of Asia, found in open forests, fields, and parks; introduced to several regions around the world.

Best timeReported across most months in Victoria, with no narrow seasonal peak.

Sounds

Sound sample

0:000:00

Recorded by Ding Li Yong

Range map

Occurrence window

200approx hotspots

490123approx records

7states

Low confidenceMediumHigh confidence

Aggregated occurance data is sourced from 14 different actively-updating datasets including eBird Australia, iNaturalist Australia, BirdLife Australia, and multiple state-based bird surveys through Atlas of Living Australia.

Species notes

Overview

A common garden bird throughout much of Asia, found in open forests, fields, and parks; introduced to several regions around the world. Often tame and approachable. Plumage shows slight regional variation: western birds have dark centers to wing feathers, lacking in eastern birds. Turtle-doves are larger, have black centers to wing feathers and stripes rather than spots on the neck. Coos loudly and often: “coo-a-roooo”.

Behavior

It is also called the mountain dove, pearl-necked dove, lace-necked dove, and spotted turtle-dove. They fly from the ground with an explosive flutter and will sometimes glide down to a perch.

Gallery