James West said to Bruce Mckenzie on 02-27-95 12:44 about at 1:343/5...

JW>I see fewer Band-tailed Pigeons less often and in fewer places than I
JW>used to in years past. The decline seems to have taken place particular
JW>over the last five or so years. I used, for example, to see a few every
JW>time I visited Discovery Park - now I seldom encounter them there.
JW>Interestingly, where I most often see them these days is in wooded
JW>residential areas of North Seattle and South Edmonds.

They've discovered our feeders are easy pickings (the darn vacuums).

I have a screen feeder I fill with sunflower seeds. It has a few perches
and the Band-Tailed will put one claw on the perch and one on the rim of
the lower pan of the feeder. They've learned to peck at the screen to get
the sunflowers to drop off.

A few times I've seen one of the Band-Tailed "fly" while grabbing ahold of
a perch on a tube feeder. They suck up what they can until they loose their
grip.

I also have an Absolute weighted bin feeder. I modified the perch so it is
now a platform the flickers can comfortably rest on and break the peanuts
and filberts apart. Though the feeder closes the Band-Tailed can land on
this 3" wide platform and clean up what the flickers and jays have left out
on the platform. The pigeons will line up in the trees and wait for a
flicker to start eating, then chase off the flicker and eat what was left
out. They definitely have a working mind.

They also clean up the ground feeding stations if the other birds leave
anything behind. A flock of 35 can clean up an area real fast!

Take care,
Bruce


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