Stewart,

In ten years, I've never seen a band tailed pigeon here at my place until this spring. I have also had an OVER ABUNDANCE of coons the entire time - quite fearless ones, I might add. It's been nothign to see nine or ten on my back deck in the dark of the night - looking for eats. Some are HUGE, what I knew as a kid in Texas as a "Prarie Coon". These guys were probably 25+ pound range - MONSTERS! We could watch movies in the family room, look over the back of the sofa, and they'd be pressed against the patio doors staring in the house.

This last winter, no coons. Wasn't really sure why... their absence was noticeable - never see them crossing the road (or lifeless on the side either), nor on our porch. I've only recently seen one smallish one come to my porch at night for a bird feeder (which now comes in every evening!). I mentioned in casual conversation to a neighbor about the absence of coons, and was told there was a widespread distemper breakout over here on the Kitsap Peninsula during the winter, which killed off many coons. I have no grey squirrels (shhhh!), only my TWO little douglas squrirrels that are so sweet. My pigeons always come from the treetops in the woods back of the house on the occasions I see them - and, from red cedars..

Wish I could offer more, but I've been caring for my mom (very ill) the past six weeks, so I'm not paying much attention to birds right now.

I hope this might add to your theory.

neens
Newberry Hill area, Bremerton, WA
----- Original Message -----
From: Stewart Wechsler
To: Michael L Casazza ; tweeters at u.washington.edu
Sent: Monday, August 06, 2007 19:11
Subject: [Tweeters] Band-tailed Pigeon decline reasons


I had long been wondering what the factors were for the decline of Band-tailed Pigeon populations over recent decades. I've been particularly interested in their ideal nesting requirements, as I expect this would be a more important question than food for example supply. I visited a friend the other day who had Band-taileds that had nested behind their house. I asked her to show me where and it was high in a Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata). I looked for the droppings to indicate where the birds had been nesting or perching above and instead found Racoon droppings (with cherry pits in them). According to my friend the racoon had apparently taken apart an Eastern Gray Squirrel nest and likely eaten the young. She showed me the torn up squirrel nest. I expect the racoon was also likely to have eaten any Band-tailed eggs or chicks it would have found in the Red Cedar. (I also expect the introduced and Eastern Gray Squirrel that we also feed is also likely to have eaten any eggs or young chicks it might have found). I've seen Racoons using conifers, including red cedars as day-time resting areas.

I now theorize that the increase in racoons that humans have induced by providing them food and shelter as well as the introduction and feeding of Eastern Gray Squirrels may be factors in nest failure for Band-taileds. I'll be interested in more thoughts.

Stewart Wechsler
Ecological Consulting
West Seattle
206 932-7225
ecostewart at quidnunc.net

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