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LABIRD-L for Sunday, January 7, 2001
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Subject: Re: cats & birds
From: Paul Dickson <Paul(AT)MORRISDICKSON.COM>
Date: 7 Jan 2001 10:06am
OK maybe I mixed up the names, the dog and the cat were curled up together
in the photo but there WAS a CAT there. You think he's quietly teaching it
to hunt ECDO, sort of like a secret weapon thing?
-----Original Message-----
From: Carol Foil [mailto:lcfoil(AT)ATTGLOBAL.NET]
Sent: Friday, January 05, 2001 6:37 PM
To: LABIRD-L(AT)listserv.lsu.edu
Subject: Re: cats & birds
Wow! Coal is a cat! I have to chalk up another terrible field
misidentification on my part. Golly, he is the largest and curliest cat I
have ever seen tho ... I am amazed!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Dickson" <Paul(AT)MORRISDICKSON.COM>
To: <LABIRD-L(AT)listserv.lsu.edu>
Sent: Friday, January 05, 2001 7:37 AM
Subject: Re: cats & birds
> Miriam: YOU GO GIRL!
>
> By the way, I discovered via holiday greetings that even the Emperor has a
> CAT named coal!
>
> upper case P
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: MiriamLDavey [mailto:athena(AT)INTERSURF.COM]
> Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2001 11:05 PM
> To: LABIRD-L(AT)listserv.lsu.edu
> Subject: Re: cats & birds
>
>
> Elaine & all:
>
> Just to stir the pot a little:
>
> Have you ever wondered exactly what it is we humans do to a landscape to
> make it unacceptable for so many neat birds you see mostly only when out
> birding? I have. I've itemized each detrimental effect carefully, many
> times.
>
> First we remove most of the vegetation and replace it with concrete,
> buildings, lawn, and exotic vegetation that doesn't support local native
> microfauna, but instead creates conditions favorable to native but
> opportunistic brood parasites like Brown-headed Cowbirds, and to
introduced
> exotic avian life like European House Sparrows and Starlings, which crowd
> out native birds.
>
> Then we erect streetlights and floodlights and decorative landscape
> lighting that interfere with nighttime rhythms of many native creatures,
> probably us included.
>
> Next we drown out bird and animal sounds with constant traffic,
leaf-blower
> and lawnmower noise.
>
> On top of that, we inadvertantly kill scores of birds with our vehicles,
> communication towers, and glass windows.
>
> As if that isn't enough, when humans move into a landscape, we usually go
a
> step further---we actually introduce to the already damaged landscape,
> harmful and destructive exotic fauna, with the number one offender the
> common housecat.
>
> Studies have been published showing that loose housecats and feral
> housecats are responsible for a suprisingly large portion of native North
> American songbird mortality.
>
> As one who lost the battle with the rest of the family over whether our
two
> cats stay inside, or come and go at will inside and outside, I can testify
> that both of them do catch birds at the bird feeder. This is not good.
> Spreading the ground food out in an open spot, away from bushes and trees
> cats like to hide behind, lately seems to have foiled our two at least
> temporarily.
>
> The worst damage mine and other loose housecats (most cats) do, though, is
> no doubt at nesting/fledging time in spring and summer. The knowledge that
> our cats might well be catching and consuming not only Blue Jays and
> Cardinals, but rarer nesting songbirds like the Wood Thrushes makes me
sick.
>
> The neighborhood habitat evidently is ok, since Wood Thrushes are present
> all spring & summer, but are "our" Wood Thrushes successfully raising
> young, or is the abundance of loose cats helping convert my area into the
> equivalent of a black hole not only for Wood Thrushes, but White-eyed
> Vireos, and other less common songbirds? Their babies survive brood
> parasitation by cowbirds only to get caught by an exotic predator--my cat.
> What a thought.
>
> My family is on notice---no more cats, since we evidently are
> unable/unwilling to keep them inside at all times. When these two are
> gone, they will not be replaced, at least not with felines.
>
> People need pets. Can't argue against that. They offer us great emotional
> comfort. So fellow responsible stewards of the land who seek a pet--- get
a
> nice dog, train it well, and keep it clean and indoors except on a leash
or
> under direct supervision. It's been my experience that dogs are far
> superior to cats as indoor pets. (Crunch, crunch go the toes...)
>
> Digging this hole a little deeper (yes, let's!)---here's why dogs are
> superior indoor pets, as I see it: Because dogs are trainable, and
because
> indoor dogs are WAY easier than indoor cats to keep clean, indoor dogs
are
> much more likely than cats to stay indoor pets. I can defend this point
> tooth and nail (pun intended), but the details aren't all savory.
>
> Many of the other detrimental effects we have on native birdlife are going
> to be hard to "fix". The cat one is relatively easy, I think. Let's just
> make it unfashionable for one to be seen out-of-doors.
>
> MiriamLDavey
> BatonRougeLA
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Subject: Purple finches
From: Roselie Overby <rosebird(AT)BAYOU.COM>
Date: 7 Jan 2001 10:55am
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
----INCLUDING text/plain MIME SECTION----
I spotted a female purple finch both yesterday and today at the =
sunflower feeders. I think there was a male today. There are so many =
house finches now of various red hues that I have to look closely for =
the purples. Who wanted those house finches?
The flock of sandhill cranes south of Forest has increased. I saw at =
least 100 Wednesday afternoon. They were not as skittish as on that =
first day that I saw them in those fields. At dusk yesterday, we were =
able to spot some in the field and some flying away.
=
Roselie Overby =20
Oak =
Grove in W. Carroll Parish
----DELETED text/html MIME SECTION----
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Subject: Re: [Purple finches]
From: cecil tarver <exk5hdl(AT)NETSCAPE.NET>
Date: 7 Jan 2001 4:39pm
Roselie, I am the one who wants the house finches. Send them on down.
Cecil Tarver
Livingston, La =
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
Roselie Overby <rosebird(AT)BAYOU.COM> wrote:
> --------------------------------------------- =
> Attachment:=A0 =
> MIME Type:=A0multipart/alternative =
> --------------------------------------------- =
I spotted a female purple finch both yesterday and today at the sunflower=
feeders. I think there was a male today. There are so many house finche=
s now
of various red hues that I have to look closely for the purples. Who wan=
ted
those house finches?
The flock of sandhill cranes south of Forest has increased. I saw at lea=
st
100 Wednesday afternoon. They were not as skittish as on that first day =
that
I saw them in those fields. At dusk yesterday, we were able to spot some=
in
the field and some flying away.
Rosel=
ie
Overby =
Oak G=
rove
in W. Carroll Parish
____________________________________________________________________
Get your own FREE, personal Netscape WebMail account today at http://home=
=2Enetscape.com/webmail
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Subject: Pine Siskin, pheucticus grosbeak in New Orleans
From: David Muth <dmuth(AT)BELLSOUTH.NET>
Date: 7 Jan 2001 7:37pm
All:
Today on the New Orleans lakefront, along the fence at UNO east, among about
a hundred goldfinches, were two siskins. These are the first I've had in New
Orleans in a long, long time. Along with the single Purple Finch I had at
the Nature Center Dec. 27, (and the ones seen by Tom Sherry on the New
Orleans CBC), we are seeing a virtuasl WINTER FINCH INVASION! Well, by
today's standards, anyway.
Along the same fence I had a brief look at a problematic pheucticus
grosbeak. It could have been either Rose-breasted or Black-headed--just did
not see it long enough. That is the third such grosbeak I've seen this
winter--quite exceptional.
David Muth
New Orleans
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