Eds.: Since 2005, Birding World has been recommending that the two forms of Streptopelia orientalis to occur as vagrants to Europe are best known by the English names Oriental Turtle Dove (for S. o. orientalis) and Rufous Turtle Dove (for S. o. meena). This clarifies the muddled use of these two English names elsewhere and highlights and readies the names for the future possible split of these two forms into separate species. The taxa orientalis and meena differ from each other in size, structure, plumage patterns and song, and birders who invested in the second edition of Collins Bird Guide (Svensson et al. 2009) will already be aware that such a split is probably warranted. The identification of both forms is covered in the 1992 article in Birding World (Volume 5, pages 52-57), which remains a prime reference. Oriental Turtle Dove breeds across central Siberia to Japan and winters in southeast Asia, while Rufous Turtle Dove breeds from western Siberia westwards to just inside the Western Palearctic border and winters in south Asia. The range of Rufous and Oriental Turtle Dove meets in SW Russia, and they are said to hybridise in this narrow zone. Several other more-or-less non-migratory forms of uncertain taxonomic status reside in southern Asia - these closely resemble orientalis, but for being a little shorter-winged and more richly-coloured. Given that their vocalisations sound similar too, it is likely that these represent sedentary races of Oriental Turtle Dove.
