ABSTRACT

The band-tailed pigeon ranges from Central America to British Columbia. The band-tailed pigeon is hunted over much of its range, prompting the need for population assessment. Late summer counts of pigeons in known feeding areas have been conducted in Oregon, and posthunting season counts of wintering birds have been conducted in California in an attempt to measure yearly population changes. Individual pigeons call throughout the day, beginning shortly before sunrise, but the 2-hr period beginning approximately 15 min before sunrise usually yields the highest frequency of calls. The number of pigeons calling and the number of calls are recorded for a fixed time period. In most typical West Coast band-tailed habitats, the number of pigeons heard calling during 3 min will be in the range of 0 to 10.