CALIFORNIA

(Compiled by Joel Greenberg)

There are no historical records documenting the presence of passenger pigeons in the state but there have been some archeological remains and several specimens in the institutions within its borders.

California Highlights:

The first remains of the passenger pigeons were skeletal fragments discovered at Rancho La Brea, “that apparently never-ending source of information concerning the Pleistocene bird life of southern California.” These represented three individual birds and prompted this comment: “In consideration of the environmental factors therefore, we cannot judge the Pleistocene abundance of Passenger Pigeons in this western area by the number of birds found at Rancho La Brea (Hidegarde Howard, Condor, vol. xxxix, pp. 12-13).”

One additional passenger pigeon bone, a left tarsometatarsus, was found in the 1980 in Bonito, San Diego County, in a fluvial deposit determined to be from the late Pleistocene based on the accompanying remains of the ancient horse, Equus occidentalis.

California Locations Known to Have Passenger Pigeon Skins, Mounts, and or Skeletons:

Berkeley: Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California

Los Angeles: *Natural History Museum of Los Angeles

Oakland: *Oakland Museum of California

Pacific Grove: *Pacific Grove Natural History Museum

Redlands: *San Bernardino County Museum

San Diego: *San Diego Natural History Museum

San Francisco: *California Academy of Sciences

* If an asterisk appears, at least one passenger pigeon is known to be on display; this list is mainly based on Hahn's Where is That Vanished Bird (1963). Please let us know of any changes including additional locations and/or birds on display, name changes of institution, if birds are no longer present, etc.

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