- Patagioenas fasciata
Identification
34 to 36 cm (13.0-15.8 in)
- Grey overall
- Darker above
- Faintly pink head and underparts
- White belly
- Yellow bill and feet
- Green iridescence on the back of the neck
- Thin white collar on the nape
Juveniles lack the white nape cresent and have a scaly appearance, due to white feather edges on the upperparts.
Distribution
Breeds along the pacific coast north to southern British Columbia, also southern Utah, western Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and most of Mexico.
Taxonomy
Subspecies[1]
There are 7 subspecies:
- P. f. fasciata:
- Westeern North America from south-western Canada to Nicaragua
- P. f. letonai:
- Honduras and El Salvador (including Volcán de San Miguel)
- P. f. parva:
- Northern Nicaragua
- P. f. vioscae:
- Mountains of extreme southern Baja California (Sierra de la Laguna)
- P. f. crissalis:
- Costa Rica and western Panama
- P. f. roraimae:
- Tepuis of southern Venezuela (Mount Roraima)
- P. f. albilinea:
An 8th subspecies, P. f. monilis[2], is not recognised by all authorities
Habitat
Oak, pine-oak, and coniferous forests.
Behaviour
Breeding
One or two eggs are laid in a twiggy platform nest.
Diet
The diet includes seeds, notably acorns.
Vocalisation
Song is a slow series of deep, hooting, each rising slightly in pitch and recalling Long-eared Owl.
Movements
Pacific Northwest populations mostly migratory, wintering in California and Baja California. Some populations in the southwest move south to Mexico and Guatemala. Probably largely a diurnal migrant; large numbers occasionally observed on passage. Occasional vagrant to the East Coast.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Wikipedia contributors. (2020, April 11). Band-tailed pigeon. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 10:10, May 7, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Band-tailed_pigeon&oldid=950305878
- Keppie, D. M. and C. E. Braun (2020). Band-tailed Pigeon (Patagioenas fasciata), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.batpig1.01
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Band-tailed Pigeon. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Band-tailed_Pigeon
