A forest pigeon that also likes to come to feeders, the Band-tailed Pigeon is the closest genetic relative of the extinct Passenger Pigeon.

The Anna’s Hummingbird, four letter code ANHU, at 3 ½ - 4” is slightly larger than other West Coast hummingbirds.

The Rufous Hummingbird is one of our beloved Northwest breeding birds which is awaited by birders as a sure sign of Spring. Its breeding area includes Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Western Montana, British Columbia, and south-central Alaska.

The mournful oowoo wooo woo woo (Alderfer) is the source of the Mourning Dove’s name.  But its genus Zenaida, which it shares with the White-winged Dove Z. asiatica and Zenaida Dove Z. aurita, is named for a princess.

In the middle 1970s a local breeder in the Bahamas was burglarized and several Eurasian Collared-Doves were released. Soon thereafter he released the remaining 50 birds he had

A recent birding trip to Europe stimulated me to write about a European bird we might see in North America. The European Starling is an obvious choice, although we also saw many House Sparrows.