Dave Nunnallee writes:

> During this avian excitement, a group of Arizona birders on a local tour
> happened along the trail. And what do you suppose drew their attention?
> You guessed it... a Band-tailed Pigeon! Ignoring all the birds we found so
> exciting, they gathered around a spotting scope for a look at the distant
> Band-tail, and jabbered excitedly about their find.
>

I saw several Band-tails in Cloudcroft, New Mexico at about 8000 feet,
and noticed that the Band-tails' range map for North America indicates
the South-western population as being rather distinct and isolated
from our Pacific NW population. In addition, the habitat preference
(at least according to National Geographic field guide) differ slightly
in that the NW birds prefer lowland coniferous woods, whereas the
SW Band-tails like oak and oak-coniferous forest. (I haven't been
following the recent thread too closely, so excuse me if I missed
something)
Are the two groups considered as distinct subspecies ?

Neil J. Fergusson ******************
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