Adult Male:
The crown, nape, and upper back are rufous with a metallic sheen (green, pink). The forehead, face, chin, and foreneck are pale brown, speckled with brown. The back, wing coverts, flanks, and upper tail feathers are dark brown with numerous dark rufous barring. The chest is brown, barred with pale rufous with a metallic sheen; this pattern fades towards the belly and undertail, transitioning to rufous and pale brown barring. The primary and secondary flight feathers are pale brown-black. The tertiary feathers are barred like the back. The central tail feathers are brown-black with dark rufous barring on the back; towards the outer tail feathers, these bars diminish, transitioning into larger patches: from the feather tip inwards, these are grey, brown, black, grey, or the outer half grey and the inner half dark rufous. The outer tail feathers also have pale white and rufous bases.
Female:
The female differs from the male in having a darker head, which is barred with black and rufous brown, and a less pronounced metallic sheen. The large eye has three rings: an outer pink ring, a middle black ring, and an inner yellow ring. The bill is black. The legs are bright red.
Measurements:
- Wing (male): 165 – 190 mm
- Wing (female): 165 – 180 mm
- Tail: 170 – 190 mm
- Tarsus: 18 – 20 mm
- Bill: 16 – 17 mm
Distribution:
The Barred Cuckoo-Dove is distributed in the Himalayas, Myanmar, Thailand, and Indochina. In Vietnam, this species has been recorded in Vĩnh Phúc (Tam Đảo), Bắc Cạn, Lai Châu, and the South Central Coast.