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Sick finches; interesting article; Loxahatchee threat



Hi C-birders,

Sorry to have mostly bad news on a rainy day, but at least there's the 
Durham spring count this weekend to look forward to...

Found an article in the library yesterday: "Changes in bird populations 
on the Highlands Plateau, North Carolina (USA), 1946-1995, with emphasis 
on neotropical migrants" by Jane P. Holt. It was in the latest issue of 
the Natural Areas Journal. Her results were that Neotropical migrants had 
declined precipitously in old-growth Hemlock and intermediate-aged 
Hemlock-hardwood forests, and less so in hardwood forest. Short-distance 
migrants and resident bird species either showed no change or increased; 
the increases were significant only in the intermediate-aged hemlock- 
hardwood forest. She notes that all of her study sites were originally 
parts of contiguous forest habitat, but are now surrounded by golf 
courses and residential developments on all sides. Species which have 
decreased in or disappeared from her study areas include Scarlet Tanager, 
Ovenbird, Blackburnian Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black-and- 
White Warbler, Hairy Woodpecker, and Wood Thrush. Golden-crowned Kinglet 
was a species which, surprisingly, increased; less surprising increases 
included Brown-headed Cowbird, American Crow, and Rufous-sided Towhee. 

The article is in Volume 20, issue 2, pages 119-125. If anyone needs a 
copy but cannot reach a library that subscribes to this journal, the 
author was an employee of the Highlands Biological Station in Highlands, 
NC at the time, perhaps they can distribute reprints. As a last resort, I 
or one of the other Dukies on carolinabirds might be able to mail or fax 
a copy of the article.

As for the finches, diseases seem to cyclically run through finch 
populations, especially House Finches. There have been a few recent 
epidemics of conjunctivitis caused by some fungus, which causes finches 
to have runny, crusted, swollen eyes and impaired vision; this might 
cause some of the seeds sticking to faces observed here in Pine Siskins 
and Goldfinches. The fungus in question was originally known only from 
domestic poultry before spreading to House Finches, so perhaps it is 
spreading to a new host as the House Finches become less suceptible. 
Cornell's BirdSource website had a feature on this disease at one point, 
but today I cannot find it mentioned there. One post on BIRDCHAT 
recommended not attempting to treat birds with conjunctivitis, as it 
would only result in the bird living to infect others but not surviving 
in the long run itself.

One possibility which is more dangerous to us (but probably no more so to 
the birds) is Salmonella. A recent post to BIRDCHAT indicates that 
Redpolls, much closer relatives than House Finches to Pine Siskins and 
Goldfinches, are suffering a sudden epidemic of Salmonella in the prairie 
provinces of Canada. Salmonella can and does infect humans, so if you 
find sick and dying finches in your yard, keep children and pets far 
away, just in case. Dispose of dead ones very carefully. And wash your 
hands very carefully after cleaning and refilling your feeders.

Finches seem to be more conspicuously suceptible to feeder-borne diseases 
than other birds. My theory is that they stay at the feeders to eat, 
while most other birds (nuthatches, chickadees, titmice, woodpeckers) 
carry seeds away and eat them in the trees. Thus, either the other birds 
don't catch the diseases, or else they get sick and die in the woods 
instead of at our feeders so we don't notice them.

Remember, the time to clean your feeders is *before* the birds start 
getting sick! Once you have sick birds, the pathogens are already in the 
population and may spread among birds without your feeders. Clean with a 
10% bleach solution. Metal and plastic feeders are probably better than 
wooden ones, since wood is more likely to retain bacteria, fungi, etc. in 
its pores and cracks. If you clean your feeders with bleach regularly and 
disease appears anyway, you should throw away your feeders and buy new 
ones. And if cleaning feeders regularly is too much work for you, then 
don't feed at all; the birds are better off without it...

Last thing: many carolinabirders visit Florida regularly. Most of those 
visit Loxahatchee NWR, some on my recommendation. Loxahatchee is operated 
by the federal government on land leased from the state of Florida. 
Certain forces in Florida state government, at the urging of the sugar 
industry, are pushing for Loxahatchee's 50-year lease to not be renewed. 
Governor Jeb Bush's advisors claim he will oppose these attempts (wow, 
one of the Bushes really *is* an environmentalist!). Anyone with 
relatives or contacts in Florida should make sure that they do what they 
can to convince legislators to renew Loxahatchee's lease, and keep the 
most reliable spot in the country for Smooth-billed Anis (among many 
other things) intact. The legislators pushing hardest to end the lease 
seem to be from Broward County, so folks with contacts in Fort Lauderdale 
and thereabouts might have particular importance. Check the websites 
below for more details...

Enough downers for now; hopefully I'll return this weekend with some 
actual bird sightings,

Josh

------------------------Forwarded Message---------------------

Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 08:53:56 -0400
From:         Noel Wamer <nwamer@FCOL.COM>
Subject:      Loxahatchee NWR Threatened

The current session of the Florida legislature, which is dominated by
lame-duckers being forced out by term-limitations, seems hell-bent on
turning the clock back decades on environmental protection in the state.
It seems that the many legislators are using their last year in office to
pay back years of political debts to agricultural and development interests
in one lump-sum.  The latest outrageous proposal is to not renew the
federal lease on the state-owned lands that form Loxahatchee National
Wildlife Refuge.  You can read a news article about this proposal at:
http://www.tdo.com/news/local/0428.lex.everglades.htm

Additional information, provided by the Florida Audubon Society, can be
viewed at:
http://list.audubon.org/archives/fl-general.html

If this, and other more onerous anti-environmental legislative proposals,
become state law, it might be time for birders, and other eco-tourists, to
consider an economic boycott of the state.

Any birdchatters interested in expressing an opinion about this can access
contact information at
http://www.state.fl.us/fgsd_html/access.html

Later...

Noel Wamer
nwamer@fcol.com http://www.badbirdz.com
Jacksonville, FL, US   30.2820 -81.4972
"A strange bird may cause a slight unrest until it is named..."
                                                       (Walker Percy)

---------------------------------------------------------------

Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Zoology

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