Band-tailed Pigeon (us-RGV)
From WikiBird
Contents |
Regional Information
Range, Abundance, and Seasonal Variations
Directions and Maps
General Information
Size
Length: 34-36cm (14–15in), Wingspan: ??cm (??in), Weight: 250–450g
Field Marks
Large, chunky dove. Sexes similar. Medium length tail is squared off at tip. The bill and feet are yellow, good identification marks at sufficiently close range. Scaly green iridescent nape marked above by a white band. The head and underparts have a faint pink cast, especially in the adult male. Purplish head foreneck and breast. The belly is nearly white. Dark gray back and primaries. Dark gray tail with wide pale gray terminal band (except in the subspecies of Baja California). Pale gray secondary coverts and rump. Juvenile: Similar to adults but have white feather edges above, giving a scaly appearance.
Similar species
The Rock Dove is superficially similar but never has a purplish head and neck with a scaly, green hindneck and white bar. The Band-tailed Pigeon also has a distinctive black-tipped yellow bill and has a terminal band paler than the rest of the tail.
Sounds
Relatively quiet for a pigeon. Its voice is low-pitched and owl-like, often in two-syllable calls.
Feeding & Behavior
Feeds on seeds, notably acorns. Outside the breeding season it forms flocks, sometimes over 50 birds, and often becomes nomadic, following the acorn crop or moving to lower altitudes or other areas outside its breeding range. It often visits bird feeders.
Habitat & Nesting
Found at altitudes from 900 m to 3600 m, generally in oak, pine-oak, and coniferous forests. Builds a rudimentary platform nest out of twigs, in which it lays one or two eggs.
Range
from British Columbia, Utah, and Colorado south in higher elevations through Mexico and Central America to northern Argentina. In autumn it migrates out of the part of its range north of California, New Mexico, and west Texas. Populations from Costa Rica south are sometimes considered a separate species, the White-naped Pigeon.
Resources
