Subject: [Tweeters] Feral vs. Wild Rock Pigeons
Date: Sun Feb 20 16:55:23 PST 2022
From: HAL MICHAEL - ucd880 at comcast.net

I just went to various parts of the California list, because this Pigeon issue kind of dovetails with the Mandarin. CA maintains a watch list of exotics that have in some cases naturalized with populations over 1,000 but as yet all the "requirements" have not been met for acceptance to the list. The Mandarin is included as are the Mute Swan, many parrots, and many finches.

They also requested that such birds be reported on ebird so that their actual status can be monitored and tracked.

Hal Michael
Board of Directors, Ecologists Without Borders http://ecowb.org/
Olympia WA
360-459-4005
360-791-7702 (C)
ucd880 at comcast.net




> On 02/20/2022 4:45 PM Robert O'Brien <baro at pdx.edu> wrote:

>

>

> My $0.02

> I have long believed Rock Pigeon to be fully naturalized in the US and long-time breeding in wild, rocky, isolated places, same as city environments.. I think that the ABA designation is just one of convenience and/or definition because there are weightier issues about. For instance, I believe the ABA requirement for 'counting' is that the species has been reliably breeding for some period of time, forget the exact number of years. Of course, Macaulay/Cornell/eBird doesn't follow the ABA. Not sure the situation with AOS.

>

> As to the great idea of documenting Rock Pigeons breeding in remote, isolated desertous regions of the west, here is an example flock I found randomly in the Macaulay Library. These appear all normal,'wild blue' plumaged, but with some variation.

>

> https://search.macaulaylibrary.org/catalog?taxonCode=rocpig1&region=Nevada,%20United%20States%20(US)&regionCode=US-

> NV&q=Rock%20Pigeon%20(Feral%20Pigeon)%20-%20Columba%20livia%20(Feral%20Pigeon)

>

> Here is the whereabouts of this particular flock:

> https://www.traillink.com/trail/pitman-wash-trail/

>

> And then here is a flock I photographed a few years ago at the remote Fort Rock in Lake County OR. (The ~15,000 year old sandals were found near here).

> https://www.flickr.com/photos/159695762 at N07/

> All these images appear mostly the 'blue form' with quite a bit of variation. Seems like Cornell is waiting for the regression, if it occurs at all, to be completel

>

> Bob OBrien Portland

> PS As to my Rock Pigeon photos, the third is a Prairie Falcon in attendance at the 'Fort'. Looks pretty tiny to take down a Rock Pigeon, but who knows?

> As to the 'piece of paper' image. This is to illustrate telephoto distortion of images. This photo taken of an 8.5x11" standard sheet of paper facing with the LONG WAY away from the camera. This viewpoint was suggested by an expert on ID Frontiers. Amazing isn't it!

> Comments on the two warblers would be welcomed off Tweeters.

>

>

>

> On Sun, Feb 20, 2022 at 7:56 AM Dennis Paulson <dennispaulson at comcast.net mailto:dennispaulson at comcast.net > wrote:

>

> > > And Rock Pigeons breed in just those rocky areas widely in eastern Washington. They nest on cliff ledges exactly as they do in their native range. I think they commute in flocks between their nesting habitat and nearby croplands, just as I saw them doing in Israel. I wonder if anyone has paid much attention to those populations. Are they variable like so many populations of Rock Pigeons, or have they reverted to the original plumage type?

> >

> > Dennis Paulson

> > Seattle

> >

> >

> > > > > On Feb 19, 2022, at 6:57 PM, Steve Hampton <stevechampton at gmail.com mailto:stevechampton at gmail.com > wrote:

> > >

> > > I'm not an eBird reviewer but I can tell you that native wild Rock Pigeons generally occur in rocky habitats in arid regions from Spain and Morocco across southern Europe and northern Africa and the Middle East to India and Mongolia. Anywhere else they are considered feral and come in a variety of color patterns.

> > >

> > > Birders in North America should use the "Rock Pigeon (feral)" option.

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > > On Sat, Feb 19, 2022 at 6:48 PM Carol Riddell <cariddellwa at gmail.com mailto:cariddellwa at gmail.com > wrote:

> > >

> > > > > > > Dennis Paulson raised a great question about why some pigeon sightings turn up as rare birds in eBird. Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) is the listing on the basic checklist. If you want to report a wild type, you have to add a species to the checklist and select Rock Pigeon (wild type). That is considered a rare bird. But how are we to determine what is a feral pigeon and what is a wild type Rock Pigeon? There is no guidance in eBird that I can find. When should we consider using the wild type category and what evidence of a rare pigeon sighting would eBird reviewers want to consider when deciding whether to include the report in the public data?

> > > >

> > > > I think knowing this would be as useful to birders who do not use eBird as it would be to eBirders. We all want to improve our birding skills and learn how to distinguish things in the field. Any answers from any local eBird reviewer who might feel so inclined? Thanks.

> > > >

> > > > Carol Riddell

> > > > Edmonds, WA

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> > > > > > >

> > >

> > > --

> > > Steve Hampton

> > > Port Townsend, WA (qatáy)

> > >

> > >

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