Band-Tailed Pigeon

The band-tailed pigeon has at least eight subspecies and some authorities split the species into two species: the northern band-tailed pigeon (Patagioenas  fasciata) and the southern band-tailed pigeon (Patagioenas albilinea). It is the closest living relative of the extinct passenger pigeon and has been considered for use in efforts to bring the passenger pigeon back. The subspecies P. f. monilis, which I have seen, breeds in British Columbia south into southern California. It winters in central California southward. The subspecies P. f. fasciata breeds in the mountains from north central Colorado, central Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas south through Mexico into north-central Nicaragua. The northernmost populations are migratory and winter from southern Arizona and New Mexico southward, moving to lower elevations. It can be found up to 12,000 feet in elevation in oak, pine-oak and coniferous forests. 

Range map of the band-tailed pigeon from Birds of the World. 

It has gray plumage, a little darker above, and the head and underparts have a faint pink cast. The belly is almost white. The bill and feet are yellow and adults have green iridescence on the back of the neck next to a thin white collar on the nape. Fasciata, the inland subspecies in the U.S., is paler and less richly colored (less reddish or purple), especially on the breast. 

This illustration is of P. f. fasciata, the inland U.S. subspecies, from Birds of the World. P. f. monilis, the bird I've seen, is larger and a little more colorful. 

I've seen it very occasionally, that is about every five years or so, but never in great numbers. I've seen it in our backyard in Redlands a few times and in the mountains a few times. 

The first three photos are from our yard in Redlands, California.

These last three photos are from June 2025 near the Chilao Visitor Center in the San Gabriel Mountains at an elevation of about 5,280 feet. 

Northern Flicker

I did a post on the western red-shafted flicker on November 28, 2019. In the post I noted that red-shafted flickers and yellow-shafted flickers, originally separate species, were combined into one species, the northern flicker because the interbreed where their ranges overlap. Yellow-shafted populations are found in far northern and eastern North America and some of the Caribbean. The subspecies in that grouping are: (a): the southern yellow-shafted flicker (C. a. auratus) found in the southeastern U.S. from Florida to Virginia;  (b) the northern yellow-shafted flicker (C. a. luteus) from central Alaska through most of Canada to southern Labrador, Newfoundland and the northeastern U.S.; (c) the Cuban yellow-shafted flicker (C. a. chrysocaulosus) found in Cuba; and (d) the Grand Cayman yellow-shafted flicker (C. a. gundlachi) found on Grand Cayman. The red-shafted populations are found in western North America south to mainland Mexico. The subspecies in that grouping are: (a) the western red-shafted flicker (C. a. cafer) found in western North America which is red under the tail and underwings and has red shafts on its primaries, as well as a beige cap and a gray face; (b) the coastal red-shafted flicker (C. a. collaris) found along much of the west coast of North America from British Columbia to northwestern Mexico; (c) the dwarf red-shafted flicker (C. a. nanus) found in western Texas south to northeastern Mexico; and (d) the Guatemalan red-shafted flicker (C. a. mexicanoides) found from in the highlands of southern Mexico and Central America and is considered by some authorities to be a separate species, the Guatemalan flicker. 

I'm putting illustrations of western and coastal red-shafted flickers up to see, if by chance, I may have seen a coastal (I believe mine have all been westerns). 

Western red-shafted flicker (cafer) male, from Birds of the World. Below is a female. 

Coastal red-shafted flicker (collaris) from Birds of the World, a female below. 

I don't really see a difference. Below are some of my photos since my previous post. 

A female in the San Gabriel Mountains. 

A male in the San Gabriel Mountains. 

A male in the Mojave Narrows near Apple Valley. 

A male in Live Oak Canyon in Redlands. 

A male in Big Morongo Reserve. 

Another male in Big Morongo Reserve. 

White-Headed Woodpecker

Our son, Sam, has gotten into woodpeckers recently and discovered that we have white-headed woodpeckers in the San Gabriel Mountains above Los Angeles. I recall seeing a white-headed woodpecker at Camp Chawanakee, near Shaver Lake in the Sierras, many years ago when helping supervise a group of Boy Scouts going to summer camp there. Sam found some near the Chilao Visitor Center and I went up there today to see if I could find and photograph some. I saw three, one that I was unable to get a good photograph of and a male and a female that appeared to be together. 

They are found in the pine forests of western North America and are non-migratory. Both males and females have black bodies and white heads and white primary feathers that show in flight. Males have a red spot on the back of the head. There are two subspecies and we have the non-nominate subspecies in our mountains that have a longer bill and tail. The longer bill is an adaptation to help them get acorns out of the very large Coulter pinecones found in the Southern California mountains.  

Range of the white-head woodpecker from Birds of the World. 

I was able to attract the woodpeckers and other birds by turning on a small water spigot which they came to for water on a very warm day. An illustration of a male follows, from Birds of the World. The female is the same, but lacks the red spot on the back of the head.

Following are some of the photos I took today:

The female which I photographed on a tree and at the tap. 

The male which I was only able to photograph at the tap. 

Yellow-Breasted Chat

I did a post on the yellow-breasted chat on May 5, 2025. It was only one decent photo of the bird I'd seen for the first time in Big Morongo Nature Preserve. Yesterday I was out at Big Morongo again, with my son, Sam, on a very warm day in the early evening. 

A yellow-breasted chat visited the bird feeders two different times, I'm assuming it was the same bird both times, and it may be the same bird I saw over a month ago. I got lots of photos, some in a tree, some on the ground and some on feeders (which I did not keep). 

My photos follow:

This and the next photos particularly show the orange in the yellow that is characteristic of the western subspecies. 

Ruddy Duck (Breeding Plumage)

My first ruddy duck siting was at Bear River MBR in northern Utah. I posted on it March 4, 2021. On March 16, 2022 I did my second ruddy duck post, this time focusing on a male in breeding plumage at Lake Tamarisk in the Sonoran Desert of Southeastern California. I particularly like the second photo in that post which shows the duck in a "U" shape with the back tail erect in a "v" shape on one-end and the neck erect with the head angling downward on the other end. There were some good photos in that post, but the breeding plumage male was quite a distance away. On Tuesday, June 10,  I visited the Salton Sea State Recreation Area on the northeastern side of the Salton Sea in horrendously hot weather. Few birds were about. The only birds on the small harbor there were a couple of coots, some gangly looking female/immature pied-billed grebes and a good sized grouping of ruddy ducks, including two or three males in full breeding plumage. These males in breeding plumage are one of my very favorite birds and they were much closer than the Lake Tamarisk ruddy, so I share some photos. My first good close-up was a male swimming up the narrow channel into the main channel. Its tail was flat in the water and these two photos were my closest.

The rich chestnut  body and light-blue bill are gorgeous. 

The remaining photos were an attempt to get it in different positions although I got nothing as fun as the "U" shaped duck at Lake Tamarisk. 

From the back, no blue and very little white showing. Note that the tail is erect and I believe the rest of my photos show it erect.  

Now a little more angled with more white and the blue showing. 

With the head turned and the facial white and blue bill in full display.

Bill tucked back underneath back feathers with a female in the background doing the same. 

Now, from the opposite end, bill first and erect tail showing above the back of the head. 

Turned to get the full tail and full beak.

Note the lumpy head. It looks like it has two mildly sloped "horns". 

Beautiful duck. I can now cross a close-up view of the breeding plumage ruddy from my list.