There has been a curious die-off of Band-tailed Pigeons on the central
California coast this month. I just bring it up to "Tweeters" because
perhaps it's something that may make it's way here or maybe the early signs
ARE already here.
Having been at this location in Bellevue/Eastgate for nearly 10 years, I
rarily have Band-tailed Pigeons making their way down from the tree tops to
my feeders. For the last month or so, things are decidedly different. The
pigeons are descending in droves onto my feeders and are ravenous and
relentless. Imagine, FOUR Band-tailed Pigeons perched all at once on one
SMALL tube sunflower feeder, one with only 4 perches and a catch tray which
is normally frequented only by chickadees and nuthatches. They completely
suck that feeder dry right down to the very last kernal of whole oil
sunflower seed! I don't know how they can be so thorough! It's quite a
sight! And when they fly off, you can only imagine how that jangles the
feeder and the pole, and it's a miracle that the feeder just plain hasn't
fallen to the ground yet.
So, now I'm wondering whether upon my return from field work on the San Luis
Opispo County coast this spring, if I'm going to find piles of dead
Band-tailed Pigeons littering the yard come June.
Early messages posted to the San Luis Obispo County, California listserve
recently are copy & pasted below. If you care to follow this matter further,
you can access that listserve by double clicking >>> <A
HREF="http://www.birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/SLOC.html">[slocobirding]</A>
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On Thursday, March 6, I noticed in Upper Lopez Cyn three dead Band-tailed
Pigeons lying on the road. Never having seen a dead pigeon in Lopez before, I
wondered if someone with a gun had been shooting them and throwing them
there.
Today, (March 9), I went back with friends and hiked the Big Falls Trail. Not
only did I note three dead pigeons on the road, but also five more along the
trail. Driving out, we saw an obviously sick pigeon stumbling along the
roadside.
I'm wondering if anyone has noticed this elsewhere or has any information
about
what might be going on.
Bill Bouton
San Luis Obispo, CA USA
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Regarding Bill's observation of dead band-tailed pigeons: I witnessed a
large die off of band-tailed pigeons in Atascadero ten or so years ago. Very
large numbers of band-tails were frequenting the oak trees around town to
feed on acorns and dead pigeons were falling out of the trees they roosted
in. In some places I could find several dead pigeons under one tree in the
morning. Upon inspection they seemed to have thrush infections in their
throats, but their crops would usually be full of acorns and their body fat
and breast muscle mass seemed to be fine.
John Roser
Los Osos, CA
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I too remember the pigeon die-off that John Rosser wrote about. It was during
a year in which the band-tails were VERY abundant. We have a spotted owl in
our collection at Cuesta College that apparently died after eating the sick
pigeons. I think it was attributed to some sort of avian fungal? disease but
my memory does not serve me as well as it did a few years ago!
Ron Ruppert
Los Osos
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It would be a good idea to collect those pigeons carefully (rubber gloves,
plastic bags, etc.) and get them to CDF&G or the USDA for testing for Exotic
Newcastle's Disease. This virus affects poultry as well as wild birds and
there has been an outbreak in southern California this year. The farthest
northern cases have been in Ventura County and the quarantine area has been
extended to include Santa Barbara County. If these pigeons did die from END
it would be extremely important to know that the outbreak is still spreading.
More info can be obtained from the CDF&G website http://dfg.ca.gov
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I use to live in San Luis Obispo and still read the list serve for nostalgia.
I
now live in the Coachella Valley and am working on a wild bird arbovirus
surveillance program down here, as the Salton sea area is often a hot bed of
viral activity. I took some interest in the postings of dead pigeons and
thought I might bring up West Nile Virus. As you all may know West Nile virus
has been spreading west, and may make its apperence in California this year.
This makes taking note of dead birds especially important. While doves have
not
been known to be a indicator species for West Nile so far, it is hard to tell
how or when the virus will enter California. The California Department of
Health Services (DHS) has a West Nile Surveillance program that mainly tests
corvids and icterids, hawks may also be of interest to them. They do also
keep
a record of all types of dead birds. You can report dead bird sightings and
find out more information about West Nile at http://westnile.ca.gov . The
threat of west nile may also warrant thinking twice about picking up a dead
birds with your bare hands. DHS will probably not test the doves in question,
but will be interested in hearing about the die off. If you have any
questions
call or email me.
Sarah Wheeler
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Richard Rowlett
Bellevue (Eastgate), WA, USA
"Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what
nobody has thought" --Albert Szent-Gyorgi (1893-1986).
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