Dove is a Germanic word that refers to the bird's diving flight. Young doves and pigeons are called "squabs".

The species is found in much of Sub-Saharan Africa, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. It is also found in Israel, Lebanon, Syria, the UAE and Turkey. It is a common and widespread species in scrub, dry farmland and habitation over a good deal of its range, often becoming very tame.

The ground color is long and slim dove is rosy buff below shading grey on the head and belly. The head and under parts are pinkish, shading to buff on the lower abdomen. There is a half collar on the back and sides of the neck made of black feathers that bifurcate and have white spots at the two tips. It tends to have short bills and legs, and small heads on large compact bodies of 25 cm (9.8 in) in length. Their flight is quick and direct with the regular beats and an occasional sharp flick of the wings which are characteristic of dove. The tail is graduated and the outer feathers are tipped in white. The sexes are indistinguishable in the field. Young birds lack the chequered neck markings.

Laughing dove eats fallen seeds, mainly of grasses, other vegetable matter and small ground insects such as termites and beetles.

Doves moved from one location to another undergo a considerable amount of stress. Before they think about bonding, mating, nest building, etc. they need to recover from the stress and feel that they are now living in a stable environment. Courtship begins with a noisy flight by the male, followed by a graceful, circular glide with outstretched wings and head down. After landing, the male will approach the female with a puffed out breast, bobbing head, and loud calls. Mated pairs will often preen each other's feathers. The male then leads the female to potential nest sites, and the female will choose one. The female dove builds the nest.

The chuckling call is a low rolling croo-doo-doo-doo-doo with rising and falling amplitude. In India Palm dove, little brown dove and Senegal dove is the name of the laughing dove.