The White-collared Pigeon (Columba albitorques) is a species of bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 in the Columbidae family.

The species is endemic to the Ethiopian highlands

Ethiopian Highlands

The Ethiopian Highlands are a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia, Eritrea , and northern Somalia in the Horn of Africa...

 in Eritrea

Eritrea

Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...

 and Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

. It occupies countryside surrounding rocky cliffs and gorges. Also common in town centres

Description

32 centimetres (12.6 in) long. This large grey-brown pigeon has an obvious white hindcollar contrasting with a dark slate head. In flight it shows prominent white wing patches formed by white inner primary coverts.

Works cited

• BirdLife International 2009. Columba albitorques. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.1. . Downloaded on 11 April 2010.