Is the Spotted Dove a Protected Animal? A Complete Guide

The dove is an animal with high food value, and it is also an important agricultural breeding project with high breeding value. The spotted dove is a common dove distributed in South Asia, Southeast Asia and the vast areas of southern China. Let us take a look below at whether the spotted dove is a protected animal.

The spotted dove is not a protected animal, but it has been included in the "List of Terrestrial Wild Animals with Beneficial Value or Important Economic or Scientific Research Value under State Protection" issued by the State Forestry Administration on August 1, 2000. It belongs to the "three haves" wild animals.

Living habits of the spotted dove

1. Diet: The spotted dove mainly feeds on plant seeds, especially crop seeds such as rice, corn, wheat, peas, soybeans, kidney beans, rapeseed, sesame, sorghum, mung beans and so on, and sometimes also eats animal-based food such as fly maggots, snails and insects.

2. Foraging: The spotted dove usually leaves its roosting tree after daybreak to forage on the ground. Before leaving the roost it often calls for a while. Foraging activity is mostly more active from 7 to 9 in the morning and from 3 to 5 in the afternoon.

3. Solitary living: The spotted dove, like other doves of the same genus, generally does not live in groups but appears alone or in pairs. The spotted dove is a docile bird, but sudden noise will startle them. Its flight posture is similar to that of the crested dove, and it tilts its tail upward when landing.