White pigeon shaped birds that roost on a detached breakwater off of Ventura Harbor

by Andrew DiConti, Hal Epstein
(Ventura, California)

It appears smaller than the western gull, but it is shaped very much like a large pigeon. It sometimes is in groups of three to five. It seems at home moving about at the top of the breakwater among the brown pelicans. This is not a random siting for I have seen them from time to time. Perhaps it is in a small migratory group that comes down the coast and only uses the breakwater as a rest stop. We both are volunteers at the Channel Islands National Park and we use our kayaks for bird watching and photography.