The Band Tailed Pigeon Columba Fasciata

"A longtime hunter in the coastal range of Oregon takes stock of his favorite prey, the band-tailed pigeon," reported "The New York Times in the summer of 2003. What made Worth Mathewson's writing about the western wilderness pigeon newsworthy is not his elegant evocation of the damp, spicy scent of a Pacific Northwest river valley before dawn or his keen observations of bandtails flying high and fast over a canyon, then folding their wings to drop into trees like gray darts. Rather the press took note of an avid hunter blaming overhunting and bad management for the devastation of a species. Wary by nature yet brave under fire, the magnificent bandtail has long thrilled the sportsman. Some attribute the bird's decline to habitat loss, but Mathewson, in this complete natural history, carefully builds his case to the contrary. While trichomoniasis and spraying of broadleaf trees may contribute, the human factor is paramount: a persistently callous attitude toward "Patagioenas fasciata may keep it in a downward spiral. If modest protections are lifted at the first signs of recovery, its fate may be sealed. "Nonhunters will likely be puzzled, perhaps irritated, by statements that some hunters love the quarry they kill," Mathewson writes. "But that is fact." With drawings by noted wildlife artist David Hagerbaumer, color photographs by the author and Margaret Thompson Mathewson, and an extensive bibliography, this finely rendered, affecting portrait of a wild bird with a troubled past is nothing short of a call to action.

Excerpt from North American Fauna, 1947-1958: 58-62 For many years the band-tailed pigeon (columba fasciata fasciata) has pleasurably interested sportsmen and ornithologists of the western United States, but at times it has aroused the ire of agriculturalists. Pursued as a game bird in some parts of its range for more than 70 years (except for a period of complete protection from 1913 to the band-tailed pigeon has, through its wariness and powers of flight, survived in sufficient numbers to be treated as a game species in a few far-scattered localities. Bandtails, blue pigeons, blue rocks, or wild pigeons, as they are called in different parts of their range, are discussed in many pages of the ornithological literature of the past 75 years, yet informa tion is still inadequate for determination of the exact status of the species and for definition of practical methods for its management. Food and cover are the primary essentials for the welfare of any species. In few instances, however, does the availability of an ample food supply influence the habits, range, and distribution of a species as extensively as it does those of the band-tailed pigeon. This report summarizes, for practical use, the available information on the range, life history, habits, food, and game status of this bird. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.