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Cowbirds and swallows



Hi C-birders,

Forwarded below, with permission, is a note from uber-hummingbird-bander
Bob Sargent, with further evidence for why cowbirds have a bad reputation
in the US from his neck of the woods.

Once again, I'll have to miss the CBC meeting. The final exam for the
course I'm TAing is scheduled for Friday evening, 7 PM, and final course
grades are due Sunday at noon. At least I'll be around for the Chatham
County/Jordan Lake spring bird count, assuming we get all our grading done
on Saturday... I will have to make a spring trip to the mountains one of
these days, though, and find those Cerulean and Golden-winged Warblers...

On Tue, 30 Apr 2002, Gary Phillips wrote:
>
>     after a conversation with Dennis Allen this afternoon, around 8 p.m. i
> parked at the Georgetown, SC observation pier and saw the most amazing
> assemblage of swallows. there may have been, quite literally, a million of
> these birds over the marsh. at the very least, there were HUNDREDS of
> THOUSANDS.
>     according to Dennis, this is an annual occurance that lasts for a few
> weeks in spring. they gather late in the day and create a swirling vortex
> over the marsh, then disappear into the marsh grasses for the night.

Sounds like the northbound equivalent of a similar occurrence I fondly
remember from Massachusetts. Every fall, the Tree Swallows gather in
staggering numbers on Plum Island, a marsh-strewn barrier island off
Newburyport. When they land, every twig and blade of grass seems to have a
swallow on it. When they fly and swirl around like an aerial whirlpool,
human jaws drop. Mind-boggling.

Good birding,

Josh


Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)

jsr6@duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2002 16:28:40 EDT
From: RubyThroat@aol.com
To: jsr6@duke.edu
Subject: Re: Why cowbirds have a bad rep

Josh
Bravo amigo!

Well stated and on the money in my opinion!  I am not a great fan of
Brown-headed Cowbirds!  I have watched this master of destruction virtually
wipe out breeding populations of Blue-winged and Prairie warblers in my area.
 The loss of large tracts of roadless habitat appears to have opened the door
for these birds to crush the population of Wood thrushes in my area as well.
The most recent victims here in central Alabama where I live is Pine warbler.
 I have not seen a Pine warbler feeding anything but cowbirds in the last
four years.

There appears to be no easy answer to this man-assisted problem.

Good birding and God Bless.
Bob Sargent
Trussville, Alabama