dmark@cs.Buffalo.EDU (David Mark) (07/31/89)
In article <390@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU> geek@media-lab.media.mit.edu (Chris Schmandt) writes: >Well, one of my favorite topics is range expansion (range decline is all >too common!). Like the mockingbird, which now winters over here (Boston), >yet back in Mark Twain's day was referred to as the "catbird of the south". > >Over the last 5 years I've been watching Turkey Vultures move (back?) into >eastern Mass. ... [etc.] Cardinals have been another northward range expander. A hundred years ago, almost the only place one could find them in Canada was in extreme southern Ontario, near Point Pelee. By the 1930's, they were common in southwestern Ontario, but were rare north and east of Toronto. In the late 1970's, they were a hotline item in Ottawa and rare in Montreal. Now they are uncommon but regular in those areas. Urban heat islands, feeders, and urban plantings have probably helped such non-migratory species extend northward. These factors helped the Mockingbirds spread northward too, although feeders probably are not as important. Feeders are almost certainly responsible for the winter survival of Anna's Hummingbird, which now is easily found in Vancouver BC through the winter. Probably a few members of of t`is non-migratory species always dispersed northward, but never survived north of California until feeders were kept up all winter. One of the most spectaculcr bird range expansions in recent years (except for the introduced Starling in North America) was the spread of the Collared Dove across Europe. Well, the species is now well-established in Florida (escapes, or trans-Atlantic dispersal?), and they should be appearing at *YOUR* feeder before long! David Mark dmark@cs.buffalo.edu
whillock@europa.SRC.Honeywell.COM (Rand Whillock) (08/01/89)
With reguard to range expansion, the house finch seems to be
expanding its range very quickly. It was quite rare in Minnesota
up untill a few years ago. Now it is on the Twin Cities Hotline
quite often. There are now even reports of it breeding in this area.
I know it is so common in some parts of the contry that it is
considered a pest, but it is still something to watch here. I am
interested in doing a little Email survey to see how it is doing in
other parts of North America. Where is it rare, where is it a pest,
and where is it expanding its range? Email me information about
the house finch's status in your area and I will tabulate and
post the responses. Maybe we can even provide an update for the field
guide maps.
Rand Whillock
see address above.
Rand Paul Whillock MN65-2300 Artificial Intelligence Section
Honeywell Systems & Research Center (612) 782-7654
3660 Technology Drive
Mpls, MN 55418 {ems,philabs,ihnp4,dayton,mmm}!srcsip!whillockarf@chinet.chi.il.us (Jack Schmidling) (08/02/89)
ahouse/e5 Article 1195 (1 more) in rec.birds: From: whillock@europa.SRC.Honeywell.COM (Rand Whillock) Subject: Re: range expansions >With reguard to range expansion, the house finch seems to be expanding its range very quickly. >Email me information about the house finch's status in your area and I will tabulate and post the responses. Schmidling says: Definitely a pest in Chicago. Several years ago while shooting "BACKYARD SAFARI", I almost had a heart attack when two sat on a thistle seed feeder while I was filming. They were incorrectly identified as purple finches at the time but were welcomed with gusto. As a nuisance, I would class them right up with sparrows and they are much more aggressive. The two developed into a flock of around (20). Many have gone through cycles of gross feather/skin disease which at first I thought was moulting. But it was too persistant. Some of them would be bald for months. There also was an unusual number with malformed feet. We now have them under control with the "Frog-in-a-Box". This is being posted here in serial form under" Aliens at the Feeder, The Final Solution". ................... I hope you don't mind my ignoring your email instructions but you turned my crank and you sound like the type who reads here regularly. Jack Schmidling (arf)
news@ism780c.isc.com (News system) (08/02/89)
In article <8903@cs.Buffalo.EDU> dmark@sunybcs.UUCP (David Mark) writes: >One of the most spectaculcr bird range expansions in recent years (except >for the introduced Starling in North America) was the spread of the >Collared Dove across Europe. Well, the species is now well-established >in Florida (escapes, or trans-Atlantic dispersal?), and they should be >appearing at *YOUR* feeder before long! Cattle egrets are now fairly common in Imperial And San Diego counties of of California. I heard that they crossed over from Africa on their own. Marv Rubinstein
mjm@oliven.olivetti.com (Michael Mammoser) (08/04/89)
In article <30845@ism780c.isc.com>, news@ism780c.isc.com (News system) writes: > > Cattle egrets are now fairly common in Imperial And San Diego counties of > of California. I heard that they crossed over from Africa on their own. > > Marv Rubinstein They appeared in South America near the point where that continent is closest to Africa and it was speculated that they were storm blown vagrants. They found a ready-made niche for themselves in the open agricultural areas of both new-world continents. While working on the Santa Clara County Breeding Bird Atlas earlier this year, I had the opportunity to visit a heron rookery at the south end of San Francisco Bay. Among the hundreds of Black-Crowned Night Herons, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, and a few Little Blue Herons (confirmed as breeders last year) were a fair number of Cattle Egrets in breeding plumage. I returned later in the year looking for recently fledged juveniles, but had apparently returned too late. Next year I hope to positively confirm them as breeders in our atlas. Mike
pdh@bdrc.UUCP (Perry D. Haaland) (08/04/89)
In article <30845@ism780c.isc.com> marv@ism780.UUCP (Marvin Rubenstein) writes: >In article <8903@cs.Buffalo.EDU> dmark@sunybcs.UUCP (David Mark) writes: >>One of the most spectaculcr bird range expansions in recent years (except >>for the introduced Starling in North America) was the spread of the >>Collared Dove across Europe. Well, the species is now well-established >>in Florida (escapes, or trans-Atlantic dispersal?), and they should be >>appearing at *YOUR* feeder before long! > >Cattle egrets are now fairly common in Imperial And San Diego counties of >of California. I heard that they crossed over from Africa on their own. > Cattle egrets are very common in the Hawaiian Islands. Especially in Kauai which we recently visited. They were introduced in the 50's to control insects. Now their great numbers are causing concern because they preying on nestlings of the few remaining native ground nesting birds. Introduced birds are in general a problem in the islands. For example, if you see a bulbul of any kind on Kauai and call the department of natural resources, they immediately send someone out with a gun. This vigilance is prompted by agricultural interests not by concern over native birds. Sadly, native birds have all but disappeared except for pelagic birds and birds of the high forests (above 2000'). We even saw northern cardinals in so called wilderness areas along the Na Pali coast. Indian Mynah birds (the Asian version of starlings) are incredibly abundant. On the other hand, birding on the island of Oahu is quite interesting because of all the really exotic looking escaped cage birds. Still, it's not really a good trade-off. -- Perry Haaland - mcnc!bdrc!pdh