Red Turtle Dove

Red Turtle Dove

Streptopelia tranquebarica

Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Varanasi

In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%

13 Verified sightings at Varanasi
3,665 In all 18 parks From 2019 to 2026
April Best month
🌅 Crepuscular When it's spotted

About the Red Turtle Dove

The red collared dove (Streptopelia tranquebarica), also known as the red turtle dove, is a small pigeon which is a resident breeding bird in the tropics of Asia. The male has a blue-grey head and a red-brown body. The female is much plainer, with pale brown plumage similar to that of the larger Eurasian collared dove.

The red collared dove was formally described by the French naturalist Johann Hermann in 1804 and given the binomial name Columba tranquebarica. The specific epithet is from the town Tranquebar, now Tharangambadi, on the Coromandel Coast in southern India. The red turtle dove is now placed in the genus Streptopelia that was introduced in 1855 by the French ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek streptos meaning "collar" and peleia meaning "dove".

Two subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song0:37

India · 2025

© Peter Boesman · XC1030906 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Song0:16

India · 2025

© Lim Ying Hien · XC987016 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Song0:48

Thailand · 2017

© Agris Celmins · XC635835 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Cat Tien National Park 🇻🇳 Vietnam
~30%
2 Kaziranga National Park 🇮🇳 India
~30%
3 Keoladeo National Park 🇮🇳 India
~20%
4 Manas National Park 🇮🇳 India
~20%
5 Chitwan National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
~20%
6 Khao Yai National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~10%
7 Royal Bardia National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
~10%
8 Doi Inthanon National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~10%
9 Kaeng Krachan National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~10%
10 Ranthambore National Park 🇮🇳 India
~10%
11 Satpura National Park 🇮🇳 India
~10%
12 Jim Corbett National Park 🇮🇳 India
~10%
13 Bandhavgarh National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
14 Gir National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
15 Kanha National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
16 Taroko National Park 🇹🇼 Taiwan
<5%
17 Royal Manas National Park 🇧🇹 Bhutan
<5%
18 Sundarbans National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Tainan 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~70%
2 Phnom Penh 🇰🇭 Cambodia
~70%
3 Taichung 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~50%
4 Bangkok 🇹🇭 Thailand
~40%
5 Kaohsiung 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~40%
6 Makassar 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~30%
7 Taipei 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~30%
8 Rajkot 🇮🇳 India
~30%
9 Davao City 🇵🇭 Philippines
~20%
10 Manila 🇵🇭 Philippines
~20%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Zoo Pilsen 🇨🇿 Czechia In captivity
2 Warsaw Zoo 🇵🇱 Poland In captivity
3 Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens 🇨🇳 China In captivity
4 Avifauna 🇪🇸 Spain In captivity
5 Edward Youde Aviary 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR China In captivity
6 herpetarium warszawskiego ZOO 🇵🇱 Poland In captivity
7 akwarium warszawskiego ZOO 🇵🇱 Poland In captivity
8 hipopotamiarnia i akwarium morskie warszawskiego ZOO 🇵🇱 Poland In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Red Turtle Dove in Varanasi?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Red Turtle Dove sighting in Varanasi on a given day, based on 13 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 73rd most-seen of the 92 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Red Turtle Dove in Varanasi?

April

In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Red Turtle Dove in Varanasi on a given day, against under 5% in February–March, May–August, October and December, the lowest months. That is one of Varanasi's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain against 250 mm in July.

What time of day is best to see a Red Turtle Dove?

Between 9 am and noon

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Red Turtle Dove sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.

Is Varanasi the best place to see a Red Turtle Dove?

27th of 51

Of the 51 cities where we can rate Red Turtle Dove sightings, Varanasi ranks 27th at under 5%. The best odds are in Tainan (Taiwan, about 70%), Phnom Penh (Cambodia, about 70%) and Taichung (Taiwan, about 50%).

Which relatives of the Red Turtle Dove live in Varanasi?

Same family: Columbidae

The closest relatives of the Red Turtle Dove that you can see in Varanasi (family Columbidae, Pigeons and Doves) are Rock Pigeon (about 80%), Laughing Dove (about 50%) and Pearl-necked Dove (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Red Turtle Dove sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Red Turtle Dove is recorded against all the birds logged in Varanasi (13 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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