Laughing Dove

The laughing dove is also known as Spilopelia senegalensis is also commonly identified as a laughing turtle dove, palm dove and Senegal dove while in India is commonly known as a little brown dove (Streptopelia senegalensis). They belong to the family of Columbidae, of order Columbiformes and genus Spilopelia. They are endemic to Africa, Middle East, the Indian Subcontinents and Western Australia. It is often seen establishing its habitat in the wilds around Perth and Fremantle. The doves have long tails and are pairs are often seen feeding themselves on the grounds of scrubs and semi-desert areas. A reddish-black check pattern gives them a unique look and distinctive calling voice by which it can be easily distinguished from other doves. 

For instance, the laughing dove species are considered the most sacred bird and are considered homing pigeons. They are quite strong fliers with an extensive instinct to their homies and usually return to their own shelters. They also belong to the same family and order as that of other laughing birds. The whites laughing dove and the ringhead laughing dove were considered different species because of their varied colour and were classified as “Blond ringneck” and “white ringneck” back in the 1800s and 1900s. Layer it was established that they were birds of the same species but with different colours. 

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Description Spilopelia Senegalensis

The length of the laughing dove is about 25cm (9.8 in) with a slim body and long tail. Their size ranges from 25cm as a minimum and 27cm as a maximum length with an average weight of 100 grams. The underpart of the laughing dove bird is pinkish-brown colouration with the tinted lilac head and neck and shading of buff on the lower abdomen give it a beautiful look. The side of the neck is made up of split feathers that have a reddish-grey colouration whereas the upper part of the wings has a brown base coat with a bluish-grey band on the feathers of the wings. They are not sexually dimorphic and are indistinguishable in nature. The young laughing doves do not possess the chequered neck markings. Their legs are red in colour and various species have different plumage that varies slightly from the ones that reside in the arid regions. The laughing doves of the arid zone are paler in their appearance. Some of the abnormal loss of pigmentation of their plumage is noted. The laughing doves are known for a very strong flight in the family of Columbidae. When the male leaves its shelter, the flight is displayed with the noisy flapping of wings and then takes a high flight before descending by spreading their wings and opening up the plumage of their tail. 

Also, another bird of the same species, the brown laughing dove (Streptopelia senegalensis) has a dull yellow-brown colouration that is uniform throughout its body. They are of the same size as that of European turtle-dove that is also of a smaller size than the regular laughing dove. They are usually 25 to 30 cm in length and weigh around 70 to 90 grams on average. Streptopelia senegalensis tails are longer in proportion than their body with a greyish centre and white along the sides of the tail. They usually prefer to inhabit human-modified areas such as tall buildings, gardens, plantations or urban areas with fewer theses around them. The brown laughing dove call is usually a repetition of “coo-coo coo ru” that is repeated 5 to 6 times in exactly the same manner. 

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Another species of dove known as the white laughing dove or sacred white dove or java dove is an absolutely white small bird that is the result of the mutation of ringneck laughing dove is measured about 12 inches in length from head to the tip of the tail. The African population of dove species named senegalensis and phoenicophlia have bluish-grey lower back and upper tail coverts but have different shades of colour around their neck and wing feathers. Another bird of the same family native to Africa called Aegyptiaca is larger than the other laughing dove birds with the nape and head that resembles the red-wine colour and have a reddish hue to the upper wing coverts. The tail is long with the tips of the outer feathers are white in colour.

Distribution and Habitat of Laughing Dove Bird

They are often found in dry farmland, deserts and scrubs but are widespread in the high density of human habitation areas and are generally tame, thus can be easily domesticated. Their population is found in almost all parts of the world. They are generally widespread in Africa, Middle East, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. The species that is popular in India and neighbouring countries are Streptopelia senegalensis commonly known as brown laughing doves.

In India, it is widely distributed in states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir, Gujrat, Rajasthan, Haryana, West Bengal, Bihar and Meghalaya. In central Asia, the subspecies of laughing dove S. s. ermanni are prominently seen in places like Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, south-central Russia and central China. They are generally sedentary but some of their population do migrate from one place to another. The doves that were endemic to Gujrat are found 200km north of Pakistan and some of the exhausted migrant doves landed on the ships in the Arabian sea.

It is also found in Cyprus, Lebanon, Seriya, Israel, Jordan, UAE and Turkey as this population of the laughing dove has been acquired by the human introduction to these places and are not endemic to these areas. The subspecies of the laughing dove named S. s. Senegalensis are mostly observed in Sub-Saharan Africa, Yemen and the West Arabian Peninsula whereas  S. s. Cambayensis are widely found in India, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran and the eastern Arabian Peninsula. The species of laughing dove that was thought to be the native of Perth, Australia was actually introduced there in the year 1889 and then steadily elaborated and established itself in the Western parts of Australia. Most of the doves are introduced in different countries because of their landing on different ships while migrating.

They are not normally observed in forests but like to dwell at an altitude ranging from sea level to an elevation of 3000 meters. They tend to dwell in the artificial man-made ecosystem that includes harvesting fields, fallow fields, pasture lands, man-made gardens, high rise buildings, abandoned buildings and urban areas where the population density is very high. But the slender-billed gull species mostly dwell in the temperate grasslands, dry sub-tropical grasslands, dry scrubs, dry savannas, dry farmlands and shrublands. 

Diet

The laughing doves primarily feed on seeds and grains and sometimes insects as well. The favourite diet of all species of laughing doves is sunflower seeds and grains of the maze. But they mostly feed on the grain, all kinds of cereals, fruits, nectars, small seeds fallen from the grass and berries. Sometimes they even feed on insects such as beetles and terminates as their primary feed and also relies on ants, small insects and flies as well. They are terrestrial by choice and spend most of their time on the ground of the vegetation land or farmlands feeding on the seeds and the cereals that have fallen on the grounds.   

Behaviour and Ecology

These birds are often seen in small groups of 3 to 4 birds at a time and avoid big clusters. The larger groups are formed when there is a single water source in arid regions or a rich-nutrient feeding zone in a particular area. Usually, the birds flock on a tree near the water resource before they fly to the edge of the water body from where they can drink the water and then fly away individually. They are good-natured creatures who are easily domesticated and can be kept in a cage but need a lot of space for flapping their wings periodically. They mostly like to forge on the ground for food in the grasslands or cultivation fields. Thus, some of the species even find a good dwelling space in villages where they prefer to make their nest on the flower pots on windowsills. They tend to make permanent pairs that usually flock together and can do well if kept in captivity. 

In the wild, the laughing dove species flock together but some occasionally and some all the year-round. They are peaceful dwellers if given plenty of space but get aggressive if brought very close to each other as they are also territorial by nature. They also tend to get aggressive during the breeding season and often the fights between the two individuals happen with occasional sharp flicks of their wings but direct constant beats that are the characteristics of all the pigeon and dove species. They are also not very tolerant of any other species of bird and can be very aggressive towards it if kept in the same cage. Only finches and parakeets are adjusting towards other species of birds kept in the same aviary. The laughing doves do not even mix well with the dogs and cats and are often preyed on, especially by cats.  

Reproduction of Spilopelia Senegalensis

The laughing doves have an elaborative breeding season all year round and it differs from species to species and their region of habitat. The birds have been seen breeding all year round in areas like Senegal, Gambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Malawi and Turkey.  But the breeding season of this species in northern Africa ranges from the month of February to June, especially in Egypt and Tunisia. Whereas Australia they are often witnessed to prefer the months from September till November suitable for breeding. 

They usually like to build up their nest 3 to 5 meters above the ground level but the nests are usually flimsy in nature that is made up of twigs, roots, sticks, straws and other waste material. They prefer crevices or hollows of the buildings as their nesting area and sometimes in low bushes if dwelling in the wild.  Both the mating pair is involved in making the nest where the males bring the twigs, roots and other nesting material and the females place them in order to lay eggs and incubate on it. 

During the courtship, the male displays bobbing of head with cooing noise to attract the female dove. The male usually pokes and nips its folded wings in the same manner of preening its winds by stretching completely. The females accept the courtship gesture of the males by bobbing down and then asking for food gently. This is one of the common methods of all the doves and pigeons to solicit the copulation of the mating process. The pair may indulge in the feeding courtship before actual mating. The pairs also poke each other with their beaks. The males may even display by flapping their wings with the clapping-like sounds of their wings and then take the flights and glide down in an arch. The females usually lay two eggs in The day and the incubation and feeding are done by both male and female parents. The incubation period starts after the laying of the second eggs and the period is of 13 to 15 days after which the egg hatches. Multiple broods can be brought up by the same pair at the same nest. A total of seven broods are seen raised by the same pair at the same nest in Turkey. The young are often fed with the “pigeon milk” that is released from both the male and female adults’ crops. When the laughing dove babies are 14 to 15 days old they fled leaving the nest. 

Conservation Status

The total population of the laughing dove all over the world is estimated to be around 2400,000 to 8200,000 birds as individuals. Thus the population is considered to be stable for now. The generation length of this species is 4 years and the total area of their habitation is 63,800.000 km2. But hunting for sports, food and forceful domestication is threatening their survival in the long run. But according to IUCN and CITES, they are the least vulnerable and are of “least concern” concerning other endangered species.