Spotted Dove Life History

Habitat

In its native range in Asia, Spotted Dove inhabits towns, villages, parks, gardens, rice fields, plantations, and open forest. In many areas where it has been introduced, including Australia, the Hawaiian Islands, and Southern California, this species is most common in urban, suburban, or agricultural areas, but it also occurs in savannas and open woodlands in the Hawaiian Islands.

Food

Spotted Doves forage mostly on the ground, where they feed primarily on seeds and berries.

Nesting

Nest Placement

Typically on a tree or bush limb, usually surrounded by dense foliage.

Nest Description

A loose, shallow cup, made of twigs and lined with feathers (and sometimes fine rootlets).

Nesting Facts

Behavior

Spotted Doves usually occur in pairs or small groups, and not in large flocks. They walk on the ground or along large tree limbs, and take flight almost vertically, on noisy wingbeats. They fly in a distinctive manner with shallow, slightly irregular wingbeats.

Conservation

The International Union for Conservation of Nature treats Spotted Dove as two species—Eastern Spotted Dove and Western Spotted Dove—and lists the conservation status of both as Least Concern.

Credits

Brazil, M. (2009). Birds of East Asia: China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and Russia. Christopher Helm, London, UK.

Garrett, K. L. and R. L. Walker (2023). Spotted Dove (Spilopelia chinensis), version 1.2. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman and N. D. Sly, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.spodov.01.2

Grimmett, R., C. Inskipp, and T. Inskipp (2011). A Guide to the Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Second edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA.

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