Subject: Re: Magpie hyperbole
Date: Oct 26 08:21:53 1995
From: "Steven G. Herman" - hermans at elwha.evergreen.edu


And it is my guess that the same thing has happened in eastern
Washington, though I have no data. Flocks of 800 near Yakima would
certainly be noteworthy, and I'd like to know where they might be seen.
Seeing "perhaps 40 a day" in Pullman must include multiple sightings of
the same individuals, though it is good to hear that Pica pica does so
well in an urban setting; my comments were meant to describe the
*general* density east of the mountains in Washington. I eastern Oregon,
and especially in the vicinity of Malheur NWR, magpies were much reduced
by an extensive poisoning, gunning, nest destruction program that is now
in remission but will probably be reinstituted soon. The main targets
were ravens and coyotes, but virtually all predators suffered, ostensibly
to the benefit of a Sandhill Crane *population* that was in good shape.
Thousands of predators (and generalists) fell to the poisons (this is
what most likely got magpies) aerial gunning (coyotes) and the
destruction of nests and nestlings (ravens and coyote pups). The
campaign went on, I think, for 8 years, with decidedly mixed results.
Those of us who have observed the Malheur scene for a couple of decades
believe that one of the factors contributing to the taking of eggs and
young of the cranes (and when I last checked, *no one* had actually
observed anything actually taking a crane egg) is the fact that parts of
the refuge are destructively grazed (by privately owned cattle) during
the winter ( August through April, for those of you unfamiliar with the
seasons as interpreted by cowboys in and out of the agencies) to the
extent that the nesting cranes are in various ways exposed to predation
in the absence of the cover that would be there without the cows. C.D.
Littlefield, who has been studying the cranes since 1968, embraced the
predator control program with great reluctance, and only after it was
clear that the abusive grazing would continue. At least one U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service employee has vowed to bring the predator control program
back, and the political climate is ideal for that. When I had my class
on Hart Mountain this summer, we encountered a great passion for
widespread predator control from locals in nearby communities. When the
republicans finish with unwed mothers, they will be looking for other
targets, and predators always fare poorly under the political right (there
is one major exception: it was Richard Nixon who signed the executive
order banning the use of the predicide 1080 on federal lands). It is my
opinion that predator control and racism issue from the same roots.
Steve Herman

On Wed, 25 Oct 1995, Don Baccus wrote:

> On Tue, 24 Oct 1995, Steven G. Herman wrote:
>
> > For myself, I would like to
> > see them much more easily and in huge flocks, as I did in Colorado 40
> > years ago.
>
> Sherrie Hockett:
> >Maybe they don't flock like Starlings, but what's hyperbolic about nearly
> >running over them on the streets of Pullman everyday? I see probably 40
> >birds a day.
>
> Magpies have most certainly declined in eastern Oregon. David Marshall,
> who was a refuge biologist at Malheur NWR in the late 1940s, confirms
> this.
>
> - Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>
>
>
>