Description:

Medium sized, similar in appearance to Rock Pigeon. But paler grey, with white back and with white band across tail contrasting with blackish terminal band. Juvenile is browner and lacks iridescence on neck; feathers of neck and breast are fringed with rusty-buff.

Distribution:

Common resident in the higher elevation valleys all across Gilgit-Baltistan. Usually prefers cliffs faces, gorges and caves in open rugged country, also in villages. 2500-4500m in summer, but moves to lower elevations in winter.

Behavior:

Feeds in small flocks, often forages in cultivated fields close to habitation, roadsides and open grasslands, and sometimes with rock or snow pigeon. Mainly granivorous, feeding on seeds of weeds; also takes grain, green shoots of crops, leaves. Also consumes some animal material like snails.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Hill Pigeon in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Hill Pigeon

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.