I do not want to have this thread drag on, but there have been several interesting private responses to my original post. I do not think that my real point was expressed very clearly. I tried to deflect criticism of introduced birds (or plants) by exemplifying their "good" effects or behaviours that are interesting. One cannot argue that House Sparrow or Starling are not harmful to other birds, as obviously they do take over nesting holes of other, "native" birds, sometimes killing them in the process.And they are able to out-compete "native" birds in altered habitats. But this is not their fault.

My point is that 1) this does not make introduced birds "bad", as "native" birds, such as crows, jays, cowbirds, Barred Owls,et al., do destructive things to nesting birds. I have a crow family nesting in a Doug Fir tree in my yard, which in several different years has destroyed the nest of a Steller's Jay. The problem is that one does not stigmatise the crow by saying it is an alien agrarian crow from the East.Avian species cannot help if they are introduced, released or just spread through opportunism, bringing them in to conflict with "native", "local" or more poorly adapted birds. 2) All this seems to be as a result of human action as we create farmland, cities and plastic strewn oceans, where there were none before. But it is our responsibility, not the birds. It does not mean that we should not manage our bird boxes for unwanted intruders, create extra nesting holes in snags, or reduce the Cowbird population. But making value judgments based on whether species are native or introduced to me is predjudicial and deflects us away from our ultimate responsibility in altering our landscapes and habitats and the difficult management choices that must be made.
--
David Hutchinson, Owner
Flora & Fauna: Nature Books
Discovery Gardens: Native Plants
3212 W.Government Way
Seattle,WA.98199
http://www.ffbooks.net/
206-623-4727



_________________________________________________________________
Hotmail: Trusted email with Microsoft?s powerful SPAM protection.
http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/210850552/direct/01/