Description:

Slightly larger in size hill pigeon with head, rump and tail. Adult has slate-grey head, creamy-white collar and underparts, fawn-brown mantle contrasting with pale grey wing-coverts, white back contrasting with blackish rump and uppertail-coverts, and white band across blackish tail.

Distribution:

Common resident in the higher elevation valleys all across Gilgit-Baltistan. Found in rock cliffs and steep gorges in high alpine zone and also above snow-line, also near villages and abandoned fields. Normal altitude range of 2500-5000m.

Behavior:

Forages in pairs or small parties during summer; larger flocks in winter, gathering on boulder-strewn or grassy slopes, scree and edges of melting snow patches. Feeds mostly on seeds of herbs, bulbils of Polygonum, bulbs of crocus, small roots and small hard seeds; takes grain near villages in winter; ingests quartzite grit.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

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

Seasonal Occurrence of Snow 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.