[obol] Pheasants
- From: "Dennis Vroman" <dpvroman@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx>, <llsdirons@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2014 17:44:49 -0800
R-N Pheasants are perhaps excipated from the western part of the Rogue
Valley. Haven't seen any for some time now.
Dennis
I'd be interested to know what populations of RN Pheasant in Oregon are
considered to be self-sustaining and which to require regular reintroductions.
I'm happy to start that discussion by suggesting that birds in the southern
Willamette Valley, Lake and Klamath County are probably NOT self-sustaining
populations.
What facts are available from OBOLoids on this question?
.
.
Alan Contreras
acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx
Eugene, Oregon
On Dec 5, 2014, at 4:14 PM, David Irons wrote:
Careful Alan. Let's not start another flame war.
I agree that the line between "self-sustaining established" populations and
those that require some level of human support is increasingly blurry. Shawneen
is on the ABA's "RSEC" (Rules, Standards, and Ethics Committee I think), which
is involved in setting the standards for what is countable. It is a murky mire,
with members holding a remarkable diversity of opinions. The most recent change
is really dicey. It makes extirpated/reintroduced native species that are
presumed to be nesting countable regardless of whether there is evidence to
suggest that self-sustaining populations are gaining a foothold. By definition,
Sharp-tailed Grouse in NE Oregon (assuming that you can lay eyes on one) should
be countable under this new rule, just like Aplomado Falcons in the Rio Grande
Valley and California Condors in the American West. The real fly in the
ointment occurs when attempted reintroductions are done in places where there
is no recent evidence to suggest that the species was once native. (i.e.
California Condors in Utah or Whooping Cranes in Idaho).
For decades, Northern Bobwhite was presumed to have an established and
self-sustaining population in Oregon, then over the course of about three
decades or so they all but vanished from the landscape. Escapees still roam
about, but to my knowledge there is no place in Oregon where one can currently
go to see a population of "wild" bobwhites. The dumping of Ring-necked
Pheasants is almost comical, particularly at Fern Ridge, where roosters are
released along the old section of Royal Ave (beyond the gate) in advance of
hunting season. They stand around like barnyard chickens and by the end of the
hunting season harvest one would be hard-pressed to find a single pheasant.
I guess that it's a good thing that listing is really no more than a game.
So long as we are all keeping track on the same scorecard, does it really
matter what is or isn't considered countable? While the definitions on which we
base these assessment are sometimes confusing, I can't really see how birders
are being done a "disservice." Years ago, a subset of California birders
started reporting their lists as "NIB" meaning that they would only count
Non-Introduced Birds. This movement never seemed to take hold elsewhere, but
there are still some California birders who are devoted to keeping their lists
pure of non-native birds and birds that may have arrived in California with the
aid of the hand of man. Ultimately, is it possible for us to truly know for
sure which birds are and aren't of natural provenance? Ted Floyd recently
posted a graphic showing the relative position of all the cargo ships in the
North Pacific (many hundreds) and posed a question which asked in effect, "are
there any naturally occurring trans-Pacific vagrants (sans ship assistance)
anymore?" Looking at his graphic, the clear answer is "probably not."
As a disclaimer, I have my own opinions on such topics, but I want to make
it clear that these comments are not meant to criticize or call into question
anyone's personal listing standards. In the end birding and listing are fun, or
we wouldn't do it. Part of the fun comes from bantering back and forth over
these sorts of questions.
Dave Irons
Portland, OR
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Subject: [obol] EGYPTIAN GOOSE: Why go to Florida?
From: acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx
Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2014 14:41:58 -0800
CC: obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: llsdirons@xxxxxxx
For species like Egyptian Goose, we don't need a field guide, just a recipe
book.
This is a larger issue. I think we do birders a disservice by showing large
swaths of Oregon as containing Ring-necked Pheasants, when in fact large swaths
of Oregon contain little but recent releases and their spawn. In some areas
there is little meaningful difference between the status of a pheasant crossing
the road and that of a Bobwhite.
.
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