"Window impacts. A huge killer of birds. I would imagine that the number of
birds killed over the course of a year in a small American town due to window
and automobile impact is far beyond the total mortalities witnessed by all of
the licensed banders in the US."
Craig Tufts
"I suspect that man-made things like the air pollution from motor vehicles
and the global warming that has poroduced, chemical pollutants, windows, for
example, hare having much, much greater impact on the bird population than
banding."
Cliff Otto
The above comments remind me of hunters who see no reason to stop killing
birds we are losing (woodcock,bobwhite) because they feel natural predators
take a far larger toll. What is missing from this line of reasoning is that
predators NEED to hunt these animals while humans do not and window and car
impacts are difficult to avoid but banding is not. Please see below:
From Northern Prairie Wildlife Resource Center
We have learned about the migratory habits of some species through banding,
but the method does have shortcomings. To study the migration of a particular
species through banding, the banded bird must be encountered again at some
later date. If the species is hunted, such as ducks or geese, the number of
returns per 100 birds banded is considerably greater than if one must rely on
a
bird being retrapped or found dead. For example, in Mallards banded
throughout North America the average number of bands returned the first year
is about
12 percent. In most species that are not hunted, less than 1 percent of the
bands are ever seen again. (emphasis mine)
In 1935, Lincoln commented that with enough banding some of the winter
ranges and migration routes of more poorly understood species would become
better
known. A case in point is the Chimney Swift, a common bird in the eastern
United States. This species winters in South America. Over 500,000 Chimney
Swifts have been banded, but only 21 have been recovered outside the United
States
(13 from Peru, 1 from Haiti, and the rest from Mexico). The conclusion is
simply this: whereas banding is very useful for securing certain information,
the volume of birds that need to be banded to obtain a meaningful number of
recoveries for determining migratory pathways or breeding or wintering areas
may be prohibitive. One problem in interpretation of many banding results is
the fact that recoveries may often reflect the distribution of people rather
than the distribution of birds. (emphasis mine)
"Excavation of winter roost sites and inexperienced birds drilling on siding
simply because its resonant occur commonly. Allowing the birds to drill
won't really have much effect at all on the general population of wood boring
insects - their numbers in the environment are vast."
Stephen Living
Siding in good condition doesn't resonate. Woodpeckers use antennas,
gutters, and the like for that. Also, if the bird were just trying to make a
sound, it wouldn't be making a hole, which was specifically mentioned in the
query
to which I was responding. I suppose a bird could be making a winter roost
site, but I would expect this to possibly occur only in an area that is
totally devoid of dead trees. I have to say that I have never personally
known of,
or found a reference that was not hearsay relating to, a woodpecker that
actually excavated its way into someone's house to roost. I kind of wonder if
this is just "urban myth".
"Allowing the birds to drill won't really have much effect at all on the
general population of wood boring insects - their numbers in the environment
are
vast."
I would expect a wildlife biologist to believe in the way Mother Nature
keeps populations of organisms in balance! Wood siding that is in good shape
does not attract huge numbers of different kinds of wood-boring insects,
usually
just carpenter bees. Trust me, the woodpeckers help to limit their numbers,
if you let them. I speak from experience, as always!
Marlene
