Columba rupestris
Silhouette: Steven Traver · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The hill pigeon (Columba rupestris) is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. Other names include eastern rock dove and Turkestan hill dove. The hill pigeon is a stout-bodied pigeon, similar in size and general appearance to the rock dove (Columba livia) but mainly differentiated by its tail pattern which consists of a broad, white tail-band across the black tail. Other differences include a paler mantle and upper wings and a white patch on the back. In flight, the tail pattern is similar to the snow pigeon (Columba leuconota), but lacks the contrast between the head and neck in that species.
It is found in China, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Kazakhstan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan. This pigeon is comparatively restricted in range of Pakistan to the furthest northern inner valleys of the Karakoram... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hemis National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park | 🇲🇳 Mongolia | |
| 3 | Langtang National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Xining | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 2 | Ulaanbaatar | 🇲🇳 Mongolia | |
| 3 | Beijing | 🇨🇳 China |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Hill Pigeon sighting in Langtang National Park on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 188th most-seen of the 225 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Hill Pigeon in Langtang National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January to November, the lowest months. That is one of Langtang National Park's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain against 390 mm in July.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Hill 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.
3rd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Hill Pigeon sightings, Langtang National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Hemis National Park (India, about 70%) and Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park (Mongolia, about 20%).
Same genus: Columba
The closest relatives of the Hill Pigeon that you can see in Langtang National Park (genus Columba, Typical Old World Pigeons) are Snow Pigeon (about 30%) and Speckled Wood Pigeon (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Hill Pigeon is recorded against all the birds logged in Langtang National Park (9 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
