Oriental Turtle Dove

The oriental turtle dove has at least six subspecies based on geographical variation in plumage. I think I saw more than one, but I have only one photograph of one I saw in the Eastern Range of Kaziranga NP in Assam, India. In trying to determine which subspecies I saw, the western Oriental turtle dove (Streptopelia orientalis meena) winters in India as far south as Sri Lanka. This is option one. The eastern Oriental turtle dove (S. o. orientalis), the nominate subspecies, is found from Assam to Yunnan and northern Vietnam. This is option two. Option three is a subspecies without a common name (S. o. agricola) which is found from Bengal to northeast India. Assam is in northeastern India. In each of the three options, each subspecies is found in other areas I've not descripted, I've just focused on the description that may include Assam, India. 

Range of the Oriental turtle dove from Birds of the World. 

The Oriental turtle dove has a black and white striped patch on the side of its neck. It has a bluish gray forehead, a rufous wash on the nape, a pinkish face, a pale buff throat which merges into a pink-gray on the neck and breast, the iris varies from light red to red-orange or golden and the orbital skin is dark purple or dark pink, the bill is mostly black, gray or dull purple, but red or purplish at gape edges and the base, and so on. The description goes on and on. 

An illustration of the eastern Oriental turtle dove (S. o. orientalis).

The dove I saw looks most like, at least from the back and wing feathers,  S. o. orientalis, or the eastern Oriental turtle dove. 

Oriental turtle dove in Kaziranga NP in Assam, India. 

Boreal Rose-Ringed Parakeet

There are four subspecies of the rose-ringed parakeet. I've previously posted on the Indian rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri manillensis) which we saw in Sri Lanka. On our trip to India in December 2024 we saw another subspecies, the boreal rose-ringed parakeet (P. k. borealis) which is found in northern India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The main difference between manillensis and borealis is that manillensis has a black lower mandible and borealis has a red lower mandible. 

Range map of the rose-ringed parakeet from Birds of the World. As is apparent from the map, the other two subspecies are found in Africa.  

Illustration of female Indian rose-ringed parakeet (manillensis) with black lower mandible from Birds of the World. 

Illustration of female borealis rose-ringed parakeet from Birds of the World. Note the red lower mandible.

Male Indian rose-ringed parakeet with a black lower mandible. 

Male borealis rose-ringed parakeet with a red mandible. 

I saw quite a few borealis rose-ringed parakeets in northern India, most of those in cities. Photos are below:

In the Central Range of Kaziranga NP. A good view of the red lower mandible.

 

In the Eastern Range of Kaziranga. An apparent nesting pair: a female in the cavity of the tree looking down at the male.

In the ruins of Fatehpur Sikri. 

At the Red Fort in Agra.

A beautiful bird at the Buddha Temple in Sarnath, near Varanasi. 

Rhesus Macaque

The rhesus macaque has the widest distribution of any non-human primate and there is great diversity in where it is found in terms of altitude and habitat. They have been used extensively in medical and biological research and one was the first primate astronaut in 1948. There are between six and nine subspecies which are divided between Indian-derived and Chinese-derived groups. It is native to India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Afghanistan, Vietnam and southern China and is found in small groups in Florida and South Carolina. They are good swimmers and tend to move from rural to urban areas where they tend to rely on handouts and refuse from humans. They also are found in larger troops in urban environments.  

We saw many of them in India and it got to the point where I often made no attempt to photograph them. We saw more of them in human habitations, from large cities to small rural environments, than in Kaziranga NP. They could be aggressive and I was warned a number of times by others when I got too close that they could attack. 

The few photos I've got of them in Kaziranga, are as follows. Even in Kaziranga, I got jaded by them and took few photos:

I used my cell phone as a camera outside of Kaziranga and have many photos of them on it. I may get around to adding some of those photos to this post later. 

Mourning Dove

I've previously posted on the mourning dove on August 29, 2020 and on April 28, 2021. I visited the Sonny Bono National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Saturday, July 5, a very warm day, and it was filled with an overwhelming number of doves, mourning doves in particular. I saw immature mourning doves for the first time and thought I was seeing different birds. Photos from this past Saturday follow:

I photographed this young dove underneath the canopy of a large tree and originally thought it must be a ground dove. 

This immature dove was standing on a bench near the Visitors Center and I thought it might be a new kind of dove. It is much more developed than the first dove, above, but still looks quite a bit different from a mature bird. 

The way these two doves hugged the ground I thought they were ground doves. An enlarged photo of the one on the right below. The white fluffy underbelly threw me off. 

A couple of photos of mature birds.

As my prior posts don't show a range map or illustration, I add them below. 

This is an illustration of the subspecies marginella, the one we have in the western U.S., from Birds of the World. 

A range map from Birds of the World. 

Indian Elephant - in Kaziranga NP

There are three subspecies of the Asian elephant: the Indian elephant, the Sri Lankan elephant, and the Sumatran elephant. I've posted on the Sri Lankan elephant, on the Sumatran elephant and on the Indian elephants we saw in an elephant camp in Thailand. In December 2024 we visited Kaziranga NP in northeastern India and saw the Indian elephant in the wild. It was a very different experience. In Thailand and in Sumatra we saw them in elephant camps and were able to feed and touch them. In Sri Lanka we were able to get very close to them in our safari vehicles. In Kaziranga, for the most part we saw them very far away, except for some we saw being ridden by locals along the street. I think the Kaziranga experience was the most realistic and gave us the better sense of truly seeing them in the wild, but I did miss the close interaction. 

In the Central Range of Kaziranga. A youngster and a very pregnant female. 

Another female and a youngster.

In the Central Range.

Intermingling with swamp and hog deer.

In the Eastern Range of Kaziranga.

A youngster in the Western Range of Kaziranga.

Indian Pond Heron

I've previously posted on the Indian pond heron which we saw in Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka we saw it in both breeding plumage (which is beautiful) and non-breeding plumage. In a visit to Kaziranga NP in Assam, India, in December 2024, we only saw them in non-breeding plumage, but we did see them with out-stretched necks which we had not seen in Sri Lanka. 

This illustration of the Indian pond heron from Birds of the World shows how beautiful the breeding plumage is. The illustration below shows it in flight. 

This range map from Birds of the World shows that both Sri Lanka and northeastern India have the Indian pond heron year-round. 

It looks like a completely different birds with its neck out-stretched. This and the next two were seen in the Western Range of Kaziranga.

In the Burhapahar Range of Kaziranga.

In the Eastern Range of Kaziranga.