Only occasionally does one see immediate detrimental effects of flushing
a bird. While I was living in Chapel Hill, NC several years ago I found
a meadowlark while between the botany building and the zoology building
on the University of North Carolina campus there. It was an odd sighting
for that location--not that the species isn't abundant in the fields
outside of town, just not on campus, which is mostly covered with trees.
Anyway, the bird flushed rather abruptly and failed to clear the
greenhouse at the back of the botany building. I believe that the impact
only stunned it and suspect that it would have quickly recovered if it
hadn't been for the cat, presumably feral, that was lurking nearby. The
cat darted out and picked up the bird and before I could do anything
about it disappeared into a storm sewer opening. Needless to say I was
somewhat upset with myself, though I probably shouldn't have blamed
myself too severely. The bird was obviously somewhat disoriented to
have been in this unfamiliar place in the first place, and could easily
have been flushed by someone else, as it was a heavily trafficked area
of campus. Besides, I always regarded the cat as the true agent of its
demise.

Mark Crotteau
Pullman, WA <crotteau at wsuvm1.csc.wsu.edu>