Oriental Turtle Dove

Streptopelia orientalis (Latham, 1790)

		adult juvenile
2012-05-20 Dzungar Alatau, Mynshukur 2012-09-27 Betpackdala, 50 km to N-W Zuantube village	© Oleg Belyalov © Andrey Vilyayev

Distribution

Breeds in northern regions of Kazakhstan and in mountains of eastern and south-eastern ones. On migrations occurs eastward from Turgai depression. Please see the detailed distribution in the section Subspecies.

Biology

Numerous breeding migrant. Inhabits coniferous, mixed or deciduous forests on plains and in mountains up to 1600 (Altai) – 2600 (Talasskiy Alatau) m. Arrives in mid-March to mid-May, migration finishes in end of May – mid-June. Breeds by separate pairs. Nest is built from thin twigs on the bush (hawthorn, honeysuckle, dog-rose) or tree (spruce, pine, fir, juniper, birch, asp, willow, apple-tree, apricot-tree) at height 1-4 to 10 m above the ground. Clutch of 2 eggs is laid in mid-May – mid-July. Probably rears two brood per season; re-nesting after loss of first clutch is common. Both parents incubate clutch for about 20 days and then feed juveniles. As soon as breeding finishes the broods join in flocks and disperse on stubble fields and other rich-food places. Autumn migration begins in August by flocks of several dozen birds. Mass flight occurs in end of August – first half of September. Odd individuals linger to end of November – early December.

Subspecies

Streptopelia orientalis orientalis (Latham, 1790) Description. General colour darker than meena. Nape is dark-grey, mantle is somewhat darker and greyer. Borders of upper wing coverts and scapulars are dark-rusty, under tail coverts, tips and outer webs of outer pair of tail feathers are bluish-grey; mid-abdomen is light-wine tinged. Distribution. Very rare occurs on migration in eastern and south-eastern Kazakhstan. On Chokpak two males obtained 5 May 1990.

Streptopelia orientalis meena (Sykes, 1832) Description. General colour is lighter than orientalis . Nape and mantle are grey-brown, borders of upper wing coverts and scapulars are buffy-rusty, under tail coverts, tips and outer webs of outer pair of tail feathers are white, mid-abdomen is white. Distribution. Breeds in Northern Kazakhstan, south up to middle part of Mugodjary ridge (Urkach forest), where recorded 20 June, Shortandy area, Kazakhishe upland, Irtysh valley between Pavlodar and Ust-Kamenogorsk, Southwest Altai, Kalbinskiy Altai, Saur, Tarbagatay, Dzhungarskiy Alatau and Tien Shan, where up to 2500-2600 m rise. Nests in Almaty Botanical garden and probably in foothills of Dzhungarskiy Alatau near Dzhansugurov village. In Naurzum Reserve where regularly observed in summer Oriental Turtle Dove is common on migration, but the breeding is also probable. Rare occurs on migration in other territory in west to lower current of Ural valley and Ustyurt.

References

Gavrilov E. I., Gavrilov A. E. "The Birds of Kazakhstan". Almaty, 2005. Э.И.Гаврилов. "Фауна и распространение птиц Казахстана". Алматы, 1999. В.К.Рябицев. "Птицы Урала, Приуралья и Западной Сибири". Екатеринбург. Изд-во Уральского университета, 2000.