FreeLists / tn-bird / [tn-bird] Re: a very tragic situation

["Earle Davidson" <pepys1@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>
>This is pretty far off the topic of IBA, but we're experiencing a huge crow
>die-off in the north suburbs of Chicago.  We just did a survey and found
>virtually all the crows are gone from a 100 square mile area that once had
>many many thousands [SNIP]

Hello everyone. I too am concerned about large crow die-offs. Specifically, 
in my area which is urban Memphis, TN. Let me say that I am not an 
experienced bird observer.

I work out at Memphis Int'l Airport and noticed as far back as mid July that 
there was a paucity of crows. I smoke and must go outside of my building at 
work. There is a large grass field, about 5 acres, many trees and shrubs so 
we have a lot of birds such as Mockingbirds, (my favorite) English Sparrows, 
Morning Doves, the occasional Wax Wings, and finches. Sometimes early in the 
morning I have seen night hawks! There is also a pair of small hawks which I 
have yet to identify which I see occasionally during the day. There are, or 
were crows.

To date I have seen no crows in my area of the airport. My girlfriend and I 
walk after work and last Wednesday in a residential area we were walking in, 
(about 100 yds South of Ridgeway and about the same distance East of Quince) 
we did hear a solitary crow. That's it. We did stop and try to see the crow 
but there were just to many trees and we were in a residential area and 
couldn't just walk to the sound.

It's very sad not to see the crows, we take them for granted and now they 
have disappeared. I wonder what the implications are with their absence from 
our biosystem here in Memphis?

I was camping in Arkansas up at the Greers Ferry Dam area during Labor Day 
weekend and was delighted to hear and then see lots of crows!

Also, I have not detected any losses among other species of birds here at 
the airport. Sorry, if I am not so scientific, I sought for and found this 
List to find out if anyone else in my area of Tenn has noticed the absence 
of crows.

Earle Davidson
Memphis, Tenn.



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