The Red Turtle Dove (Streptopelia tranquebarica), also known as the Red Collared Dove, is a small pigeon

Dove

Pigeons and doves constitute the bird family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerines. In general terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably...

 which is a resident breeding bird in the tropics in the Indian subcontinent

Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...

.

Habitat, distribution and status

This dove is essentially a plains species, extending to Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

 and the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 but uncommon on the Malaysian archipelago, avoiding rocky foothill and an oriential species. There is however a summer migration into the broader cultivated valleys of Afghania where it breeds. It is the commonest dove throughout Punjab. It is a summer migrant visitor to India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, where it is more or less resident. They prefer better-wooded tracts such as canal or roadside tree plantations and avoid extensive desert regions. When they first arrive they are often in small flocks, but they soon split up and start pain formation and breeding.