Taxonomic classification Photos
The Oriental turtle dove (Streptopelia orientalis) belongs to the family Columbidae under the order Columbiformes.
The species Streptopelia orientalis, like all species in Columbidae, produce crop milk (pigeon milk). The crop milk is a pale yellow, semi-solid substance. The crop milk is a suspension of protein-rich and fat-rich cells, detached from the highly proliferating lining of the crop.
The crop milk is extremely high in protein and fat and also contains antioxidants, immune-enhancing factors and IgA antibodies. Both the parents birds start producing crop milk a couple of days before the chicks hatch out.
The chicks are fed pure crop milk for nearly a week. Then the seeds are introduced in the chick's diet by soaking them in the crop milk. The typical Streptopelia orientalis clutch contains two eggs.
The crop milk produced by the parents is just sufficient for the growth of two chicks. If the clutch has only one egg, the chick can grow at a significantly faster rate. If the brood has three hatchlings, the chicks may get emaciated.
| Taxonomic classification | |
|---|---|
| Binomial name: | Streptopelia orientalis |
| Species: | S. orientalis |
| Genus: | Streptopelia |
| Subfamily: | - |
| Family: | Columbidae |
| Order: | Columbiformes |
| Class: | Aves |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
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| 1.Oriental turtle dove photo by Lip Kee |
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| 2.Oriental turtle dove by 孫鋒 林 |
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| 3.Oriental turtle dove by Lip Kee |
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| 4.Oriental turtle dove by 2il org |
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| 5.Oriental turtle dove by Allan Hopkins 249 |
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| 6.by DickDaniels |
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| 7.by Ravi Vaidyanathan |
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| 8.by Yasunori Koide |
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| 9.by Charles Lam |
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| 10.by Kishore Bhargava |
1.Photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lipkee/440548490/ (cropped)
Author: Lip Kee | License: CC BY-SA 2.0 as on 4/19/17
2.Photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/outdoor_birding/15599232774/ (cropped)
Author: 孫鋒 林 | License: CC BY-SA 2.0 as on 4/19/17
3.Photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lipkee/440548430/ (cropped)
Author: Lip Kee | License: CC BY-SA 2.0 as on 4/19/17
4.Photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/78134895@N03/13080419775/ (cropped)
Author: 2il org | License : CC BY 2.0 as on 4/19/17
5.Photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/hoppy1951/7250011322/
Author: Allan Hopkins | License: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 as on 4/19/17
6.Photo source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oriental_Turtle_Dove_RWD.jpg (cropped)
Author: DickDaniels (http://carolinabirds.org/) | License: CC BY-SA 3.0
7.Photo source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Orientalturtledove.JPG (cropped)
Author: Ravi Vaidyanathan | License: CC BY-SA 3.0
8.Photo source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Streptopelia_orientalis_DSCN0650.JPG (cropped)
Author: Yasunori Koide | License: CC BY-SA 3.0
9.Photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kclama/16779753355/ (cropped)
Author: Charles Lam | License: CC BY-SA 2.0 as on 4/19/17
10.Photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kbhargava/26016129462/ (cropped)
Author: Kishore Bhargava | License: CC BY-NC 2.0 as on 4/19/17
Current topic in Birds of India: Oriental turtle dove (Streptopelia orientalis) photos.