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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend August 18, 2005 Wildlife biologists to track band-tailed pigeons By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune By boat, car and boot, state wildlife biologists will be counting band-tailed pigeons statewide as part of an effort to better grasp these elusive birds’ residency here. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists will be hiking, boating and driving into specific mineral sites to count band-tails this summer. The mineral sites, including two in Coos County, are areas long used by band-tails to glean dietary calcium. The sites, two of about two dozen along the coast, are those with long-term counts, thus providing biologists with an index for comparisons, says ODFW biologist Stuart Love in Charleston. In the past, biologists counted birds at dozens of mineral sites for shorter periods of time. Advertisement Under the new protocols, the sites will be monitored throughout July and August, and only fewer, more well-established sites will be watched, Love says. "We’re experimenting with this new method," Love says. "And we’re not just counting the birds coming in and out. We’re counting young birds and adult birds for (estimating) reproduction." With adults averaging about 14 ounces, band-tails are a small pigeon. They are also fast and elusive fliers. Oregon is one of 17 states, mostly in the West, with a band-tailed pigeon hunting season. The Oregon season is statewide and runs Sept. 15-23, with a daily limit of two birds. Like hunters, biologists have long relied on mineral sites to find band-tailed pigeons en masse. The mineral sites typically are small springs or slides that expose calcium, which the birds need in large doses during their breeding and nesting seasons. During the nesting season, the birds will head to these sites about once a week, spending up to two hours drinking calcium-rich waters. The calcium helps during ovulation and is used by males and females to produce the pasty, so-called "crop milk" used to feed young before they fledge. Research shows that pigeons need as much as 10 milligrams of calcium a day while feeding their young. In Coos County, the mineral sites are listed as "sensitive bird sites" and they’re protected from development and human disturbance. Most are near waterways, so their protection also dove-tails into overall watershed health targeted by the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds, says ODFW spokeswoman Meghan Collins. Researchers have documented instances where hundreds of birds concentrate at mineral sites daily, with birds even showing willingness to dodge hunters’ bullets to reach the calcium. Love says one of the Coos County sites is along Coos Bay, while the other is along the lower Coquille River. The exact locales are withheld from the public, "so hunters need to find these on their own," he says. While the band-tailed pigeon season remains unchanged for this fall, some other upland game-bird hunting seasons are new for this year. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission recently adopted the state’s sage grouse conservation plan and approved 1,300 sage grouse hunting permits in 13 hunting units as called for under the plan. Hunters have until Aug. 29 to submit controlled-hunt applications for sage grouse hunting this year. Chukar hunters in Baker County last Friday had their upcoming season expanded when the commission expanded this year’s season through January. The season previously closed at the end of December. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail Wildlife biologists to track band-tailed pigeons ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztechmedia Website Hosting Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation Online Pharmacy online casino Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Rogue Valley Travel Reservationstogo Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Natto Kinase Nattokinase Casino Gambling Sites Budget Website Templates Advertisement s