Description
This pigeon appears dark grey and a black and white patterned patch on the back of the neck is distinctive. The mantle is chestnut. The male has a paler grey grown 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 with which it is treated as a superspecies. This groups is considered as basal within the Old World Columba pigeons. The binomial commemorates the Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779-1859).
Distribution
The species is mainly found along the Western Ghats and in the Nilgiri Hills. Although found mainly in the hills, it is sometimes seen at lower elevations within the Western Ghats. A few relict populations survive on the high elevations hills of the peninsula outside the main distribution including the Biligirirangan Hills and Nandi Hills near Bangalore.
Behaviour and ecology
They are usually seen singly, in pairs or small groups, feeding almost entirely in the trees but sometimes descending to the ground to forage for fallen fruits. Although mainly feeding on fruits they have been recorded taking small snails. The breeding season is March to July during which time they make a flimsy platform of twigs with the single white egg visible from under the nest. They feed on large fruits and may play an important role in dispersal of many forest tree species.
