Subject: Re: introduced birds (very long) (fwd)
Date: Jan 30 08:36:31 1995
From: Dan Victor - dvictor at u.washington.edu


Hi,

This reply came from a crossposting of tweeters to Birdchat. Thanks
Troy.

Dan Victor <dvictor at u.washington.edu> Seattle, WA


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 1995 14:08:08 -0600 (CST)
From: Troy Gordon <tgordon at bigcat.missouri.edu>

Thanks for forwarding the tweeters discussion on introduced birds to
BIRDCHAT. I found it very interesting.

I personally do favor eliminating starlings and other introduced birds,
but recognize other people's reluctance. I believe roost destruction is
one very viable option.

On the note about trapping and eliminating cowbirds, that is a completely
different argument. Cowbirds are native to my area, but their numbers
have increased tremendously due to human impacts--especially timber
management practices. I strongly support controlling them in areas where
they threaten sensative species (most blatent example: Kirklands
Warbler), but ultimatelly believe that habitat manipulation is the answer
to reducing numbers in most areas. To me, this means reducing the use of
timber harvest methods in national forests that promote fragmentation and
thus cowbirds, and relying more on single tree selection methods that
reduce fragmentation, allow the canopy to remain closed, and don't allow
the influx of cowbirds into areas where interior birds are suseptable to
parasitism.

Oops! This was suposed to be a thank you note, not a lecture. Well,
thanks for posting it.

Troy Gordon
Columiba, MO
tgordon at bigcat.missouri.edu