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Re: Starling Attacks Flicker Nest



There are certain species that are true survivors.  Starlings, House 
Sparrows, and Rock Doves for that matter, are all survivors, whether you
happen to like them or not. In essence, that's really all they are doing,
surviving, trying to make a living.

Besides, I think it would be a pretty tough job to get rid of them all.  Is
it even worth the effort?

Don't get me wrong, I too cringe when I see a House Sparrow stick it's
little head out of a Purple Martin gourd, a Starling evict a red-bellied
Woodpecker from it's nest hole.  I don't think, however, that an Eastern
Bluebird would nest among the letters of a Wal-Mart sign if the way were
made clear by the eradication of all House Sparrows.  I doubt that a Hairy
Woodpecker would take up residence in the back of a traffic light, if E.
Starlings weren't already there.  The Central Park, NY Red-tailed Hawks sure
do love their pigeons--the urban Peregrines like 'em too (Can't forget the
Durham, NC Red-tails).  And how about the Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks
that pick off the "intros" in otherwise bird-sparse cities across the
country during migration and winter.  I once observed a Merlin make daily
sorties into a mixed flock of House Sparrows and House finches during one NE
coastal winter.

Perhaps, and I think probably, with the constant ship and plane traffic
around the world today, if those birds (the starling, sparrow, and dove)
WEREN'T introduced a hundred or so years ago, they would have made it here
on their own by now.

The real culprit, if you want to look at it that way, the most destructive
of all exotic species to enter this continent, the one who introduced those
"other" species, is us.  I'm not advocating ridding the continent of us,
but...


-----
Greg Dodge
Brownbag Productions
Hillsborough, NC
brownbagproductions.com