[obol] Rural juncos/cats & possible Indigo Bunting
- From: Joel Geier <joel.geier@xxxxxxxx>
- To: Oregon Birders OnLine <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 11:30:38 -0700
Hi all,
First regarding the junco thread, I do not want to get too deep into the
third-rail topic of cats. However just considering this as a basis for
ideas on the breeding distribution of juncos:
Cats (both feral and free-roaming pets) are quite common in rural areas
of the Willamette Valley, even if perhaps not in such high densities as
urban/suburban areas. I've twice found litters of feral kittens at
Luckiamute State Natural Area (Luckiamute Landing) -- and that is just
one of many sites that I could mention.
During grassland bird surveys and BBS routes around the valley in recent
years, I've regularly seen domestic cats hunting out in fields and
pastures as much as half a mile from the nearest residence. I think it
would be very difficult to find a "cat-free" zone that would allow a
clean test of hypothesis that cats are a primary factor affecting
presence/absence of juncos as a nesting species on the valley floor.
Moving on from that topic (I sincerely hope), I saw a possible Indigo
Bunting along Springhill Drive in NE Benton Co., as I was returning from
a quick morning's work on the prairie restoration at Luckiamute SNA. A
bit more info is posted on the midvalley birding list. This was only a
fleeting look so I would not encourage anyone to travel any distance to
look for what could still turn out to be a more common bird. However in
case anyone is passing through the area, you may want to keep an eye
open.
Happy birding,
Joel
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
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