Template:POTD/2024-02-22

Picture of the day

The spotted dove (Spilopelia chinensis) is a small and somewhat long-tailed bird of the pigeon family, Columbidae, that is a common resident breeding bird across its native range on the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia. The species has been introduced to many parts of the world and feral populations have become established. There are considerable plumage variations across populations within its wide range; for example the populations in India and Sri Lanka are long tailed and buff brown in colour with a white-spotted black collar patch on the back and sides of the neck. This spotted dove was photographed in Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh, India.Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp