[obol] Band-tailed Pigeons

[Pat Waldron]

Dear Lars and OBOL,

    Or, you can include crushed oyster shell, Calcium Carbonate, in your 
backyard bird feeding program. I started this about 10 years ago, and 
increased the BAND-TAILED PIGEON population from a few pair to over 400 
birds.
    If the ODF&W, could buy 4 fifty pound bags of oyster shell @ $9.00 
each, and pour it all out in favorable habitat where the birds can see 
it, AND, do it every year, they could establish a colony too. It is like 
bringing the mineral springs to them, and anyone can, as other birds are 
attracted also, like PURPLE MARTINS, SWALLOWS and DOVES.
    We do not want the BAND-TAILED to go the way of the PASSENGER PIGEON.

    Pat Waldron
    East of Scio

Norgren Family wrote:

>     I recall a presentation made on this
>species at the Audubon Society of Corvallis
>by Bob Jarvis in the early seventies. This
>information had been gathered under funding
>from the ODF&W, perhaps resulting from some
>federal mandate. Band-tails are obviously
>migratory, but when laws protecting waterfowl
>were enacted in the early 20th century this
>species was left out. It is probably no surprise
>that Jarvis' findings went ignored despite
>their major implications.
>      The most salient point is that pigeons
>make milk, chemically very similar to mammalian
>milk. This requires large amounts of calcium,
>a mineral rare in the Pacific NW. To get enough
>calcium the Band-tails must visit mineral springs.
>There are some three dozen of these in Oregon,
>almost all on private land. I believe there
>may be one between Pigeon Butte and Maple Knoll
>at WLF NWR. The shooting rights at these springs
>are leased to the obvious profit of the landlord.
>I leave it to the reader to surmise the socio-economic
>status of the shooters.
>     The pigeons are visiting the springs because
>they have young on the nest. They are desperate
>for the minerals. Even though they know the danger
>they will return again and again. Having a hunting
>season in the middle of a species' nesting season
>is obviously crazy, but any changes would conflict
>with entrenched interests. As I said, three dozen
>springs. Do the math. A tiny fraction of Oregon's
>licensed hunters are involved. ODF&W recognized
>that the population was declining over 30 years
>ago. The primary response was to lower the bag
>limit from 8 to 4. Making a later season would
>effectively end everything as the birds are largely
>gone by Oct 1(the traditional end of the legal season).
>Banning shooting at mineral springs seems a no
>brainer, but it's amazing how much pull minor
>special interest groups can hold.   Lars Norgren
>Manning Oregon 
>
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