FreeLists / va-richmond-general / [va-richmond-general] Re: Dips in certain bird populations?

["Al Warfield" <warfield101@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

We haven't noticed any of the birds mentioned being noticeably less numerous 
here. House Wrens, Blue Jays, Tufted Titmice, American Robins and Eastern 
Bluebirds are coming around here more than in the past, or at least as much. In 
fact we have our first breeding bluebirds this year. All the birds they saw 
declining are the ones that have adapted well to human suburban living. Crows 
have changed their habits now and frequent the suburbs instead of the open 
fields and forests like they did when I was growing up. I suppose some of them 
do that too. It's hard to compare the numbers, but I do remember large flocks 
back then - in the 50s mostly. The crows walk around on lawns now, in big trees 
in our neighborhood, and there seems to be plenty of them, at least American 
Crows. It's interesting that these particular species were affected. They are 
more associated with humans than the birds that are mostly found in more 
iolated areas. Maybe that's the connection.

Al Warfield


----- Original Message ----- 
From: IE Ries 
To: va-richmond-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 4:33 PM
Subject: [va-richmond-general] Dips in certain bird populations?


West Nile virus decimates suburban birds 

Excerpt:  Populations of seven species have had dramatic declines across the 
continent since West Nile emerged in the United States in 1999, according to a 
first-of-its-kind study. The research, to be published Thursday by the journal 
Nature, compared 26 years of bird breeding surveys to quantify what had been 
known anecdotally.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070516/ap_on_sc/dying_birds

Has anyone noticed drops in the species mentioned here?  I've definitely 
noticed lower numbers of crows, specifically, in recent years, and wondered 
what others were seeing as well?

Thanks.

IE Ries



"Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul And sings the tune 
without the words And never stops at all." --Emily Dickenson 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheParakeetPerch/


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