Band-tailed Pigeon
Band-tailed Pigeon
Band-tailed Pigeons scouts arrive in early February. Within a month, 36 of them come by every day for sunflower chips and black-oil sunflower seeds. During the month of July, only a dozen are around. Early fall all of them leave and don't return until next spring.
These wild natives are all muscle and don't take to shelter in severe storms. Flocks of them continue to fly and defy violent weather.
They are particularly unusual when taking a bath. A group of three or more will line up side-by-side in the bird bath, all with one wing straight up in the air as drops of water fall on the underside of the wing. There is no typical bird bath of dunking under water and flapping of wings.