Columba elphinstonii
Silhouette: Steven Traver · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The Nilgiri wood pigeon (Columba elphinstonii) is a large pigeon found in the moist deciduous forests and sholas of the Western Ghats in southwestern India. They are mainly frugivorous and forage in the canopy of dense hill forests. They are best identified in the field by their large size, dark colours and the distinctive checkerboard pattern on their nape.
This pigeon appears dark grey and a black and white patterned patch made of white tipped stiff feathers on the back of the neck is distinctive. The mantle is chestnut. The male has a paler grey crown while the female has a darker grey crown with a pale throat. The most confusable other species is the mountain imperial pigeon but that species has paler underwing coverts. The feet and the base of the bill are red.
The species is evolutionarily close to the Ceylon woodpigeon Columba torringtoni and the ashy wood pigeon Columba pulchricollis which form a clade that is basal within the Old World genus Columba. The binomial commemorates Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779–1859).
The species is mainly found along the Western Ghats and in the Nilgiri Hills. Although found mainly in the hills, it is sometimes... Wikipedia →
Song0:16
India · 2017
© Peter Boesman · XC369094 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eravikulam National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Mudumalai National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bengaluru | 🇮🇳 India |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Nilgiri Wood Pigeon sighting in Bengaluru on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 231st most-seen of the 247 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Nilgiri Wood Pigeon in Bengaluru on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Nilgiri Wood Pigeon sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Bengaluru, in our data
Bengaluru is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Nilgiri Wood Pigeon sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Nilgiri Wood Pigeon is recorded against all the birds logged in Bengaluru (9 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
