[obol] Charismatic megafauna in urbanized areas, really?
- From: Joel Geier <joel.geier@xxxxxxxx>
- To: Oregon Birders OnLine <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2015 17:49:32 -0700
> All manner of charismatic mega fauna are adapting and thriving in
> urbanized areas throughout the industrial world.
Not "all manner," to be sure. Coyotes are doing well, gulls and ravens
also where they have access to landfills and other sources of easy
protein.
When was the last time you saw a wolverine, or a grizzly, or a pronghorn
or a sage-grouse inside of city limits? Or a pine marten, or a fisher,
or a wolf? Or a black-backed woodpecker, Lewis's woodpecker, burrowing
owl, streaked horned lark, Oregon vesper sparrow, snowy plover,
sharp-tailed snake etc.?
I think the situation is probably closer to what one anonymous elderly
gentleman in Seattle (apparently with some connection to Seattle
Audubon) offered one day as our family was looking at the African Lions
at the Woodland Park Zoo:
What we're seeing is the triumph of the black birds. Ravens, crows, and
starlings. Birds that do well around landfills, and in the case of
ravens, benefit from roadkills..
Black-tailed & mule deer, along with introduced wild turkeys and
peacocks, also seem to thrive in suburban situations.
Sorry, but the idea that urbanized environments are a substitute for
natural habitats is mostly just a feel-good meme.In most cases these
stories just reflect a few opportunistic species that tend to benefit
from fragmented habitats.
Does anyone want to cite Barred Owls as another example of a species
that does well in urban settings, while we worry about the ongoing
disappearance of Spotted Owls?
Good birding,
Joel
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
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