*
The management of wildlife at Columbia River Dams is a huge, sleeper issue.
But it should be discussed on the boo list. It's many more orders of magnitude
worse than the Smew, which fell to a vandal's .22, not a legal hunter.
Lars
On Feb 1, 2017, at 11:18 AM, Robert O'Brien wrote:
Well, these ducks are legally hunted so hunters might well have the opposite
position.
But, there were rumors that the Ross' Gull a few years back at a dam on the
upper Columbia, was shot under the instructions of the Damn Manager by an
employee or contractor who was (possibly) legally commissioned to harass
Ring-billed (and maybe other) gulls feeding
on salmon smolts, purportedly because the damn guy didn't like the birders'
attention. I don't know whether harassing included killing. Was there ever
any concrete information on any of this? Do I have it straight? I didn't
try to see that one.
Bob OBrien
On Wed, Feb 1, 2017 at 11:06 AM, Bob Archer <rabican1@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Still gets my gut churned, butI heard the Smew we all enjoyed in the gorge in
early 90's did indeed fall to a gun that got tired of all the visitors.
Bob Archer
On Feb 1, 2017, at 10:55 AM, Lars Per Norgren <larspernorgren@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
As in the two Baikal Teal records for Oregon. The Pochard in
Humboldt County has also been a target. Wonder if it's still
around.
Lars
On Feb 1, 2017, at 10:35 AM, Fred Lawrence Ramsey wrote:
#3 includes predation by humans.
On Feb 1, 2017, at 9:07 AM, Wayne Hoffman <whoffman@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi -
I think in general, " the chances or odds that these birds will ever
return to their kind and resume living in their normal ranges" is
generally low. A good source of information on this subject is the Howell
et al. field guide to Rare Birds of North America (2014).
Several possibilities exist for the future of a seriously out-of-range
bird, most of them not very hopeful.
1. It is stuck in unsuitable habitat and perishes.
2. It finds the habitat acceptable and establishes a "new" migratory
pattern rather than returning to its origin. This has been documented
with some frequency in waterfowl. For example, the Falcated Duck that
wintered near Eugene for 3 consecutive winters probably did not go back to
Asia each summer. An Eurasian "Common" Teal drake has wintered for a few
years on a particular pond near Toledo. The past two years the pond has
also had a couple of wintering hybrid Common X Green-winged Teal. We
assume that the Eurasian has mated with a hen Green-winged Teal and
migrates with it, within North America; an example of the Stephen Stills
effect (when you're not with the one you love..."
3. It is predated by a local predator. There is a body of research from
the 1970s indicating that raptors look for odd or unfamiliar prey. If a
hawk or falcon flushes a flock of birds it tends to preferentially chase
individuals that in one way or another are distinctive within the group.
This makes sense because sometimes a bird flying a bit differently is
injured and easier to catch, but it also means the raptor is likely to
choose to chase the vagrant.
4. It becomes resident in the area it strayed to, and remains, perhaps
for years. I know of several examples among geese. Another is the
Steller's Sea Eagle that appeared at Taku River SE of Juneau Alaska and
remained for 10+ years. The multiple Jackdaws that appeared in the
northeast US and Canada in the 1980s tended to take up residence and
remain, in some cases for years.
and finally, 5. It may be he vanguard of a range expansion. Natural
range expansions are almost always driven by conditions and population
dynamics in the source areas. In the 1970s Barred Owls started showing up
in British Columbia, the northern Rockies, and hen the Pacific Northwest,
and have since become common. High nesting success in source areas
together with habitat changes (increased riparian forest and shelter belts
providing a "bridge" across the northern Great Plains) apparently allowed
a considerable number of colonists into the northwest.
Wayne
On 1/31/2017 9:59:58 PM, Jimhardman <jhardman43@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I have a question that I would like to have the birding experts ponder,
and it is this: With all the rare birds that we have been seeing this
winter i.e. - the Florence Brambling, Portland’s Black Throated Blue and
others, What are the chances or odds that these birds will ever return to
their kind and resume living in their normal ranges? POST: Send your post
to obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
JOIN OR QUIT: //www.freelists.org/list/obol ;
OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol
Contact moderator: obol-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
