Manitoba Peregrines > U of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta
U of Alberta - 2009 / Damon & Radisson
The Peregrine Chick:
--- Quote from: bev. on March 30, 2009, 17:30 ---Hi Tracy,
I chase all crows and merlins out of my area. I love my song birds and my feeders and I do not tolerate them. just before I left I heard my bluejays cacking and I looked out and there was a crow. the bluejays and the magpies shoed it out of the area. If they had not I would have.
I love my birds but I do not like them in residential areas.
at the end of las season there were crows around the nest site, but not ravens . Now the university will not like the Ravens there be cause they like the peregrines chasing the pigeons.
I am shocked here. ::) ::)
--- End quote ---
Question for you Bev - do you feed your birds all spring/summer? If you do, you are contributing to the presence of the Merlins or crows because you are creating a ready food source for them. Additionally, there is a debate concerning spring/summer feeding with commercial bird seed as it is not as nutritious as natural sources (bugs, berries, seeds) in the spring/summer when they are trying to feed themselves and young. During the winter, the high fat content is a great way to help out birds during our long (long) cold winters. All our bushes, trees, gardens and bird feeders are why residential areas have so many birds. On the upside, having birds in your yard (and it sounds like you have good habitat there) you are improving survival rates and doubling/tripling the reproductive success of all your birds - passerines and raptors alike. And the mammals too - squirrels, raccoons, skunk and deer will all eat your seed and eat your passerines. (It also apparently adds $10K to the value of your home!)
Its all a case of balance - for the merlins, its two months with a raptor in your area, then they move further afield when the chicks have fledged and all your songbirds come out of the woodwork and its pretty much back to normal. With the crows it lasts a bit longer since they don't seem to want to move out of the neighbourhood so quickly. There are techniques to have both though - Check out the Cornell Attracting Birds page for some of the easiest.
Scaring off bird species we don't "like" is a tough argument. We have damaged/destroyed existing habitat and some species suffer (raptors). We create new habitat and some species prosper (songbirds, including introduced species like House Sparrows) but when the species we damaged are able to take advantage of the new habitat conditions, we protest. I have feeders all winter and into the spring to get them started and I love having all the songbird, House Sparrows and all. Come spring when the rest of our bird species return, I'm glad to see them all because I can't assign a greater value to one over the other, particularly since I'm the one manipulating their habitat for good and ill.
Loriann:
As I mentioned on a thread last year, we have resident Merlin's nesting in an old nest high up in the neighbours pine tree. I too noticed a difference in the amount of song birds, but as tracy says, they are still there, just a bit more cautious.. ( throw down some bird seed and see how many come creeping out).
To me, a bird is a bird is a bird.. Each one has a place in the grand scheme of things, and while some may be more enjoyable to watch than others, each one is just as valuable in the food chain as the next.
Crows, and the much maligned Raven serve a great purpose in eating crap that other birds would not ... carrion, and rotting vegetation.
Like them or not, ravens are highly intelligent ( for a bird) and very interesting to watch. I know you all want the falcons back in the nest, but if the Ravens are to be there, then so be it. In nature, they have every right to 'squat' in that box . They have no idea that they are interferring with what 'we' as humans would prefer to have happen.
The same goes on in my yard every year.. the bird houses high up in the maple trees were meant for BIRDs, but our resident squirrels take over every time. At first it annoyed me, but now, many years later, we get a great laugh watching them raise thier family.
we should have all learned a lesson that we cannot interfere in the ways of Nature. The Ravens are not doing anything but trying to procreate . something they are born and raised to do.
carly:
Bev!! No I didn't get your email :'( I'm so sorry but relieved you will be home soon! I was hoping you would have a more peaceful season this year.
U
bev.:
Hi Tracy,
I chase all crows and merlins out of my area. I love my song birds and my feeders and I do not tolerate them. just before I left I heard my bluejays cacking and I looked out and there was a crow. the bluejays and the magpies shoed it out of the area. If they had not I would have.
I love my birds but I do not like them in residential areas.
at the end of las season there were crows around the nest site, but not ravens . Now the university will not like the Ravens there be cause they like the peregrines chasing the pigeons.
I am shocked here. ::) ::)
bev.:
Hi, guys
I am extremly upset right now. I left all my e-mail adresses at home so I cannot e-mails my biologist friends.
Carly e-mailed me andI hope she got my e-mail that said I would be out of town until Tuesday evening.
this does not look good and if I was at home I would be doing all I could to get rid of this nest. Not good at all
I am not sure if the falcons would even try for the nest with this one in but if Tracy hears nothing I will get to the bottom of it on my return. that is what happens when cam is not up soon enough for us to see what is going on.
I do not know if the biologists are allowed to do anything by law????
Boy, Oh boy. Never easy at this site.
I will be down there on Wednesday to check things out in person. I will see if there are any falcons about and what not :o :o >:( >:(
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