The spotted dove (Spilopelia chinensis) is a small and somewhat long tailed pigeon that is a common resident breeding bird across its native range on the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia. It is also called the Mountain dove, Spotted Turtle dove. This species was formerly included in the genus Strep
topelia with other Turtle doves because of many similarities (The oriental turtle dove or rufous turtle dove (Streptopelia orientalis) but the Turtle dove has 'U' shaped spots on his back and they also differ from their Genus but have same family i.e. Columbidae.
This bird has special place in the legends and folksongs of hilly region of Uttarakhand, india. In the month of (Chaitra) March-April when this bird comes to hills, then married women comes to her parent's house.Many writers have written songs about this bird like "Ghughuti na basa" by late Gopal Babu Goswami and "Ghughuti guraun lagi mera mait ki" by Narendra singh Negi.
Spotted doves move around in pairs or small groups as they forage on the ground for grass seeds, grains, fallen fruits and seeds of other plants.They may however take insects occasionally and have been recorded feeding on winged termites.
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