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Spotted Dove (Spilopelia Chinensis) - Egg To Development At 4 Days Old

Spotted dove or eastern spotted dove (Spilopelia chinensis) chicks hatch from one or two glossy white eggs after about 13-16 days of incubation by both parents on a nest made of twigs, grasses, and roots. They emerge as helpless, downy nestlings and are blind, fed "crop milk" by their parents until they fledge around two weeks later. They stay near their parents for another week or two for feeding. At four days old, they are still very young and entirely dependent on their parents for warmth and food. They are small and fragile, with eyes likely still closed or just beginning to open. They do not yet have their distinctive spotted neck pattern or adult feathers; those develop as they mature. Here, a Spotted dove haphazardly builds a nest and lays eggs, hatching its young next to a broom made of coconut fronds by a house in Tehatta, West Bengal, India, on December 6, 2025. (Photo by Soumyabrata Roy/NurPhoto)

Photo ID	#13149451
Date Taken	6 December 2025
Location	N/A
Photographer	Soumyabrata Roy/NurPhoto
Category	Human Interest
Copyright	© 2026 NurPhoto - Soumyabrata Roy/NurPhoto

No People Spotted dove eastern spotted dove Spilopelia chinensis chicks hatch white eggs glossy eggs incubation parents twigs grasses roots nest altricial downy nestlings blind crop milk nutrient-rich secretion parent bird fledge leave the nest feeding warmth food small fragile eyes closed spotted neck pattern adult feathers mature haphazardly built nest coconut fronds Tehatta West Bengal India Soumyabrata Roy NurPhoto 06-12-2025.