Band-Tailed Pigeons???

henhenROOSTER!!!

henhenROOSTER!!!

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Anybody ever run across band-tailed pigeons in CO??? I used to see them occasionally on hiking trips & mule deer hunts in NM and got into a few of them with a shotgun a time or two in some parts of the Gila Wilderness & a triangle roughly between Taos/Angel Fire/Mora...

They are a beautiful bird with purplish/pinkish highlights, an iridescent-green nape and white half-collar neck ring...I sure would love to add one to my taxidermy bird-collection, but don't have the time or money to go traipsing off way far from home right now!
 
I hear they migrate all the way to Argentina so why not. We have a few scattered ones in the Sierras but the real flocks come in when the storms chase them south. They seem to favor madrone berries but will eat acorns as well.
 
hen said:
Anybody ever run across band-tailed pigeons in CO??? I used to see them occasionally on hiking trips & mule deer hunts in NM and got into a few of them with a shotgun a time or two in some parts of the Gila Wilderness & a triangle roughly between Taos/Angel Fire/Mora...

They are a beautiful bird with purplish/pinkish highlights, an iridescent-green nape and white half-collar neck ring...I sure would love to add one to my taxidermy bird-collection, but don't have the time or money to go traipsing off way far from home right now!
Click to expand...

Nope not in colorado,

I have been told that they are here in arizona, But havent seen them, up close. I did see a flock of white pigeons fly over about a week ago. I don't know if they were Band-tails or what... Their is a season for them here in arizona , but I dont know anyone that hunts them.
 
Yeah, we have ban tails. I am trying to pattern a flock right now, but I only know there flyway and you better be a Damn good shot to get one at their speed and elevation. They look just like a pidgeon sized dove in flight, so the white ones you saw definitely not ban tails. They are great eating birds.
 
From the migration paths I can find online it looks to be a west coast thing. Sure is cool to see those flocks of 300 to 500 birds tho. When they see you they zig and zag like you wouldn't believe.
 
I've never seen any in numbers but about two years ago while looking for turkeys around Lyons, CO I spotted a pigeon in a rock outcropping. I stopped and put the binocs on it and realized that it was probably a bandtailed. I just figured that a normal pigeon would have no business being out in the woods even though they do look sort of similar to a common rock pigeon. Anyways, after studying it for a while, I noticed its mate and turns out they had nest in the rocks. Being a birdlover, it was cool to see.
 
Rooooster.. I'm seeing some move through my part of CO right now. (west /S west of Pueblo) Never seen large numbers, but I've been harvesting a few every year for the past five. I catch them feeding on the acorns early mornings.
Really tunes the dogs to "mark" downed birds.
 
@grouchyolddude - NICE!!! That's an impressive bunch on the tailgate with the dogs & the one with the boy (your son?) is priceless! :10sign:

Most I ever got back in NM days was a couple at a time incidental to a search mission for blue grouse - some big flocks flew over, but few and far between & they flew high & fast, all I could do was pick a couple off before they were gone! Saw a lot in the Gila country when hunting deer & elk, but wrong kind of gun (or bow) in hand & had other things in mind - ALWAYS told myself I would go back with a shotgun specifically for band-tails, but NEVER did! Ah, choices, choices in hunting - can't do it all...

Yeah, I did some google research after I started up this thread & I think it's doable for me to find at least a handful somewhere within a couple hours of Denver...Thanks for the heads-up! :cheers:
 
"Ah, choices, choices in hunting - can't do it all..." :( No, we can't, but it is our duty to try!! :cheers:
 
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