American doves

[rjimmer]

When I think of a dove, I think of something about half the size of our woodpigeon.

Is there anything to eat on an American dove?

Was the Passenger Pigeon about the same size as our woodpigeon??

 

Off to work now!!

 

If anybody called Nightwing turns up on the forum, make him welcome. He works in a sports goods store (hunting section)State Side.

[Cranfield]

I have shot the "American dove" and its the same as our collared dove.

They are considered as good eating.

 

I believe the passenger pigeon was smaller than the wood pigeon. From a stuffed one I saw in a Georgia museum, it looks a bit like a blue rock dove.

[new to the flock]

The doves that are shot state side and I think in some of western provinces is very light of frame. The breast meat is what is consumed and is quite often done on the barby with a strip of bacon laid over it. Very tasty.

  Our extinct passanger pigeon was very similar to your wood pigeon, both in features and characteristics. It is hard to imagine a bird that formed in flocks that would take days to pass over, could be eliminated by the gun.

[Cranfield]

NTTF, I read somewhere that it was now thought that disease killed off the passenger pigeon.

I recall a respiratory ailment was mentioned, which is related to a disease that our racing pigeons sometimes catch.

 

Whilst large numbers were shot, this alone would not have been sufficient, to make a whole specie extinct.

[new to the flock]

Cranfield, it has been 4 or 5 years since I last did any research on the passenger pigeon, and the concept of disease being the major contributor to thier extintion is new information to me. It does make alot of sence, thank you.

[reynard895]

Excuse my ignorance but what is a pasenger pigeon.

As an ex pigeon fancier, ( top flyer in 2 clubs for my last 3 seasons ), I know quite a bit about racing pigeons, am I confusing the pasenger with the carrier pigeon or are they 2 difrent species.

 

Look forward to a reply.

 

 

Cheers

[Cranfield]

The passenger pigeon was a wild pigeon in North America, it was declared extinct in the early 1900,s.

It was reckoned to be the largest bird population in the world.

There are stories of flocks, taking hours to fly over and woods full of nests.

The birds were hunted and shot in very large numbers.

 

As I mentioned above, its hard to believe that shooting alone, could cause the extinction of a bird, that inhabited such a large land mass, much of which was wilderness.

[rjimmer]

The birds were hunted and shot in very large numbers.

 

As I mentioned above, its hard to believe that shooting alone, could cause the extinction of a bird, that inhabited such a large land mass, much of which was wilderness.

I also allways thought  it amazing, but the Bison were heading the same way, I believe.

 

It depends how hungry people are perhaps, or how stupid the bird is?

 

The last passenger pigeon died in a zoo.

 

What do the Americans have that compares in size to our woodpigeon? NTTF might be able to get an idea of what we are talking about.

 

Have a look here;

http://home.conceptsfa.nl/~pmaas/passengerpigeon.htm

[Cranfield]

There are no other pigeon/dove type wild birds in the US, only feral pigeons.

I tell my American friends to imagine something bigger than a feral and far better looking.

We must remember that NTTF comes from Canada, they may have some different species up there.

[new to the flock]

Irresponsible yes =( , but a whole lot of fun no?

 I think they would do well through out Canada and the U.S.. I would imagine that through the winters they would be able to find enough waste grains, beach, and acorn mast to survive. Besides sections of the U.S. never drop below the freezing mark and have continous growing seasons.

 

 Cranfield although very few Americans, and even fewer Canadians know it we do still have one wild stain of pigeon left. Columbia fasciato the Band-tailed pigeon a bird of about 13 1/2 inches and similar in coloration to the wood pigeon. This bird is of small population on our west coast of British Columbia, (alass roughly 1400 miles from me), and migrates down through California, Arizona, Texas, and into New Mexico. Once in the states there are large huntable populations, most of which have a regular hunting season.

 

  Still can't buy any decoys over here though.

[G.I. countrysports U.K. GARY]

The passenger pigeons extinction was not solely down to shooting pressure, although it must have helped it along.

 

I read in a very good article in Shooting times that this bird fed (almost exclusively) on a type of prairie grass seed.  With the introduction of farming and herbicides the grass was greatly reduced.  The passenger pigeon seemed unable to adapt to other food sources, which in effect starved the bird to extinction.

 

The report concluded that shooting alone could never have eradicate this bird as it was just too numerous...