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Re: Bluebirds v. Cowbirds



Dear Jenny Richards,

Controversy is OK with me, beats a boring list of
birds any day. You raised some good issues.
In our modern world, there are no easy solutions
about how we should best interact with nature. We've messed it up so bad it
gets very complicated.

Steve Compton
Summerville,SC
<scompton@sc.rr.com>
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jenny Richards" <JennyRichards@nc.rr.com>
To: <carolinabirds@duke.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2003 11:10 PM
Subject: Bluebirds v. Cowbirds


> Thanks again to all who wrote to help me with the issue of the cowbird
chick
> in the bluebird nest.  For those that disagree with my actions, here are
> some points I would like to make:
>
> 1.  We knew it was illegal to remove the cowbird chick from the nest
before
> we did it.  Songbirds are protected, I suppose nationally. Hillsborough,
> like many townships, is a bird "sanctuary" which applies to all birds
(even
> crows, Canada geese and cowbirds).  We decided to risk the legal recourse
of
> our actions, if there should be any.  (Fantasies of calling expert
witnesses
> to court to testify on the abhorrent behavior of brood parasites... etc.)
> Yes, we broke the law and would do it again if faced with the same
> circumstances.
>
> 2.  Cowbirds are not native to NC and are not endangered.  According to
one
> very knowledgeable gentleman on this list, they've only ranged eastward in
> the last 100 years or so.  Bluebirds are native to NC and it is only
through
> human re-intervention (our first intervention reduced their native
habitat)
> that they have survived as a species.  Perhaps they no longer need our
help,
> but we're giving it just the same.
>
> 3.  Cowbirds have a right to breed.  Just not in my backyard.
>
> 4.  The entire episode was very upsetting. Damned if we do, damned if we
> don't.  We do respect animal life and do not wish to cause suffering.  For
> us, the needs of the 3 bb chicks outweighed the needs of the 1 cb chick.
> The cb chick would have killed the bb chicks eventually.  What would you
do?
> Really?
>
> Sorry to have stirred up so much controversy on the list.
>
> Jenny Richards
> Hillsborough, NC
> jennyrichards@nc.rr.com
>