Idaho Bird Records Committee Rarities Report Form
Species: Band-tailed Pigeon
Reporter: Cliff Weisse, 4125 Beaver Springs Rd., Island Park, ID 83429, 208-558-7789, cliffandlisa@octobersetters.com
Other Observers: Lisa Weisse, contact info as above (same day); Cal Sandfort (csandfort@hughes.net) (same day-plus the bird was at Cal's feeder so he saw it on other days as well); Harry Krueger (jhkrueger@gmail.com)
Date of Observation: January 3, 2008, the bird was discovered on December 29th, 2007 by Cal Sandfort and his wife
Date Report Prepared: December 9, 2008
Locality of Observation: At a feeder in the yard of an employee of the Peregrine Fund, Boise, Ada County
Habitat: Small group of planted trees in otherwise desert habitat.
Conditions: Cold and windy, observation distance about 30 yards with 10x binocs and Swarovski spotting scope at 20-60x. Total observation time only about 2-3 minutes.
Did you take notes…No
Did you consult a field guide or other reference work? yes, during the observation?
What guide or reference did you consult? Sibley Birds of North America, first edition.
Description: Obvious Pigeon, overall gray. All I can really remember at this point is the bill was yellow with a black tip (although it appears orange in the photo below, as do the feet), there was some dusky/greenish on the nape suggesting that this was a hatch year bird beginning to molt in the green nape, and the feathers of the upperparts were edged pale, again suggesting a hatch year bird. I can't recall seeing the tail pattern, feet, or undertail coverts.
Field marks visible in photo include contrasting darker gray or blackish primaries and secondaries, secondaries also contratst with gray tertials, pale edges to the feathers of the upperparts, medium gray tail with wide pale gray terminal band, and black-tipped bill. While the bill and legs appear orange in the photo it appears that it is an artifact of the photo. The bill was clearly yellow (viewed at close range through spotting scope mounted on window of truck and seen by both Lisa and I as yellow), so the fact that the legs and bill both appear the same shade of bright orange in the photo suggests that they were actually both yellow on the bird.
Behavior: Feeding on seeds in feeder. I do not recall seeing the bird in flight.
How and when did you positively identify the bird, and what clinched the identification for you? It had previously been identified and I'd seen a photo so I already knew what it was. Cal was there and pointed out the bird when we arrived. For me the hint of green coming in on the nape, overall gray appearance, and yellow bill with black tip confirmed the ID.
How did you eliminate similar species, and what were they? Other pigeons have opposite tail pattern with dark terminal or subterminal band. Rock Pigeon is highly variable but consistently has white cere with dark bill. White-crowned and Red-billed Pigeons have paler tip of bill, not black bill tip.
Experience with this species: None, but lots of experience with Rock Pigeon and various racing/hybrid pigeons including keeping them for dog training and regularly handling them.
General experience birding: 14 years
Were photo(s), video, and/or audio obtained by you? Photo below was taken by Cal Sandfort on January 1, 2008. I performed no editing of this photo.