[TN-Bird] Bird boom becomes human problem

From: "David Aborn" <David-Aborn@xxxxxxx>
To: <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2010 15:26:40 -0400
From today's USA Today
 

David Aborn

Chattanooga, TN

 

The massive growth in the population of some big birds, such as Canada geese
and vultures, is leading to conflicts with people and challenging wildlife
officials to develop solutions.

Although the most publicized problems with large birds have involved
airplanes - notably when US
<http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Companies/Transporta
tion,+Travel,+Hospitality/Airlines/US+Airways+Airlines>  Airways Flight 1549
was forced to ditch into New York's Hudson River in 2009 after geese were
sucked into its engines - there are other problems, too. Vultures are
short-circuiting power lines and damaging cars and homes, and cormorants are
destroying land with their waste, according to state and federal wildlife
officials.

Many of these birds thrive in human habitats such as golf courses, says Greg
Butcher of the National
<http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/National+Audubon+Society>  Audubon
Society.

"There is a consensus in the bird conservation community that some of these
species are really overpopulated," he says. "The biggest question is what to
do with these birds."

The non-migratory population of Canada geese along the eastern U.S. and
Canada has more than tripled since 1990 to nearly 1 million, according to
the U.S.
<http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/United+States+Fish+and+Wildlife+Se
rvice>  Fish and Wildlife Service. Since 1980, the black vulture population
has grown 2.5% per year nationally, according to the North American Breeding
Bird Survey.

In Tennessee, where the survey puts the annual growth of black vultures at
11%, the Tennessee
<http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Government+Bodies/Te
nnessee+Valley+Authority>  Valley Authority is trying to keep the birds off
transmission towers so they don't short-circuit power lines. It is equipping
the towers with plastic strips, which the birds find uncomfortable for
perching, says bird scientist Charles Nicholson.

In Florida's Everglades National Park, officials plan to use an arsenal of
water guns, laser lights and noisemakers to scare off native vultures around
parking lots. The birds rip the rubber off windshield wipers and sunroof
seals, says David Hallac, chief of biological resources for the park.

Dave Sherman, a wildlife biologist with the Ohio Department of Natural
Resources, says the waste of the double-crested cormorant kills off trees
and vegetation on islands and can reduce fish populations. Ohio has been
shooting them since 2006, he says, and "the islands look a lot greener."

Killing birds to reduce populations can be controversial.

In July, 350 to 400 resident Canada geese were captured and killed in
Brooklyn's Prospect Park, says Carol Bannerman, a spokeswoman for the U.S.
<http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Government+Bodies/Un
ited+States+Department+of+Agriculture>  Department of Agriculture, citing
problems with birds hitting aircraft.

"Anytime there is a conflict between animals and people, the animals lose,"
says New
<http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Places,+Geography/States,+Territor
ies,+Provinces,+Islands/U.S.+States/New+York>  York resident Patty Adjamine,
who attended a memorial service for the birds.

 



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[TN-Bird] Bird boom becomes human problem

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