Yellow-eyed Pigeon

Columba eversmanni Bonaparte, 1856

30 cmLength202 gWeight

It is a medium-sized, mostly gray pigeon with yellow eyes.

Busiest months: May and October · Most records: India, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan

Looks like Rock Dove, Hill Pigeon

Vulnerable

How to identify

Field marks

Iris yellow; bare skin around the eye pale yellow
Body mostly gray, with slightly brownish upperparts
Crown, throat, and breast with a pinkish-purple metallic gloss
A single black wing-bar; tail band indistinct

Voice

Usually quiet; sometimes gives a faint “oo-oo-oo” in the breeding season.

Similar species

Rock Dove

Rock Dove has more prominent wing-bars and tail band.

Hill Pigeon

Hill Pigeon has a single white subterminal tail band above the black terminal band.

Where and when it's recorded

Yellow-eyed Pigeon has been recorded at 8 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 3 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

To protect this bird from disturbance, we don't list exact sites.

Countries and regions with the most records

India Kazakhstan Tajikistan

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The yellow-eyed pigeon, pale-backed pigeon, yellow-eyed dove or yellow-eyed stock dove (Columba eversmanni) is a member of the family Columbidae (doves and pigeons). It breeds in southern Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, north-east Iran and extreme north-west China. It winters in north-east Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir and parts of Rajasthan (including Tal Chhapar Sanctuary and Jorbeer, Bikaner).

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