Estimation of Band-Tailed Pigeon Band Recovery and Population Vital Rates in Colorado, 1969–1981

Data to inform population assessment of the Interior subspecies of band-tailed pigeon, Patagioenas fasciata fasciata (breeding range from Colorado and Utah south into Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico), have been lacking despite substantial past banding efforts. We used a data set of more than 26,000 bandings from Colorado, with 3,500 live recaptures and 780 recoveries from the harvest of banded individuals to estimate annual survival, fidelity, and harvest rates. Most birds were harvested in Colorado (62%) followed by Mexico (18%); New Mexico (16%); Arizona (3%); and 1% or less each in California, Washington, and Utah. On average, each year 15% (range 0-30%) of surviving band-tailed pigeons did not return to Colorado. From 1969 to 1981 mean annual survival was 0.633 (standard error [SE] = 0.031) for hatch-year and 0.719 (SE = 0.016) for after-hatch-year birds, with a mean annual recovery rate of 0.015 (SE = 0.002) for hatch-year and 0.011 (SE = 0.001) for after-hatch-year birds. From 1970 to 1974, mean annual abundance of band-tailed pigeons in Colorado on 1 September was 59,911-88,290. These data provide a baseline for additional data collection for band-tailed pigeons in the range of the Interior subspecies.