On Thu, 15 Feb 1996, Scott Richardson wrote:

> In a related vein, though, at the AOU/COS/Wilson meeting in 1994 someone
> brought a videotape of huge Dickcissel flocks (in Venezuela?). Some footage
> showed awesome flights reminiscent of the Western Sandpipers at Grays Harbor
> during the peak of migration. Other footage showed close ups of dozens of
> zoned-out or droop-winged, twitchy birds standing (as best they could) on a
> dirt road through an agricultural field. My reference is in the other
> office, but I believe they were impacted by insecticides.
> ------------------------
> Scott Richardson
> NE Seattle
> salix at isomedia.com

Yes, I saw that tape, too. The local agriculturists were spraying
specifically to kill the Dickcissels. Apparently, about every Dickcissel
that breeds in North America winters in about 5 square miles down there
(slight exaggeration). This makes them 1) an agricultural pest in that
local area, and 2) incredibly vulnerable, as a species. The birds roost
in reed beds in phenomenal densities, and with a week of spraying, the
locals can probably wipe out a significant proportion of the world
population of Dickcissels. According to the film, something like that is
happening right now.

Chris Hill
Everett, WA
cehill at u.washington.edu