The Sri Lanka Woodpigeon (Columba torringtoni) is a pigeon which is an endemic resident breeding bird in the mountains of Sri Lanka.
This species nests in damp evergeen woodlands in the central highlands, building a stick nest in a tree and laying a single white egg. Its flight is quick, with the regular beats and an occasional sharp flick of the wings which are characteristic of pigeons in general. Most of its food is vegetable. Normally silent it utters an owl-like hoo call in the breeding season.
The Sri Lanka Woodpigeon is 36cm in length. Its upperparts and tail are dark grey, and the head and underparts are lilac, becoming paler on the belly. There is a black-and-white chessboard pattern on the nape.
SriLanka has 26 endemic bird species (if you include three commonly recognised taxonomic splits), including the endangered SriLanka Whistling Thrush and Green-billed Coucal, as well as being an important wintering area for a number of Indian species such as Indian Pitta and Kashmir Flycatcher.
The forest is the largest remaining area of primary rainforest in SriLanka, although interestingly most of the birding is done in secondary forest.
One of this attractive rarity (a few records in SriLanka in recent winters) was found at Yala on 05/04.
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