Bird #466 — Band-tailed Pigeon

columba (pigeon or dove) fasciata (banded)

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve in Murrieta, California

The trail I was on soon entered open fields, so I cut over to another trail called the Waterline Road and headed back the way I’d come. In area covered with bushes and scattered trees, I saw three large birds flying in a straight line not far above the treetops. I knew at once they were pigeons, and that they weren’t Rock Doves. They were larger, with longer tails, which gave them more of a stretched-out look.

Unfortunately, they were between me and the sun, so I couldn’t see a great deal of detail. They were slate gray with darker wing tips and paler tails. They continued flying out of my sight and, although I kept looking, I never spotted any more.

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