Pesky city bird makes an appearance in area

Last week a reader emailed me some photos of a flock of birds that he had been unable to identify. The problem, particularly at this time of year, is that many of the birds that we see are either juveniles or are molting out of breeding plumage and are not pictured in the field guides. In this instance, his "mystery birds" were young starlings and looked nothing at all like the black adults. I identified the birds for him and explained that this species is not native and is usually considered a pest.

When he replied, it was clear that he was puzzled about how a "non-native" bird managed to get here and what factors contributed to the dramatic success in its new home. Actually we have two such species that might be termed "obnoxious permanent guests" and both of them were intentional introductions into New York City.

In 1851, a gentleman by the name of Nathanial Pike, who clearly had more money than he did good sense, purchased 100 house sparrows from England and released them in Brooklyn. Since the cost was $200 at the time, which in terms of today’s dollars would have been equal to well over $5000, he clearly felt strongly about this project. Later, separate introductions were made at selected sites in the some of the western states and today house sparrows have become pests across much of North America.

The story is much the same with starlings, but the reason for the introduction was a bit more specific. A fan of literature, Eugene Scheiffelin decided to introduce all of the birds that had been mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays to the United States. In 1891, he released from 80 to 100 European starlings in Central Park and from that small founding population came the millions of descendants that have spread across the continent.

At the time, biologists had little understanding of how ecosystems functioned or the concept of competitive interactions between organisms. Both of the newly introduced species were cavity nesters and quickly moved in to usurp the native birds from their nesting habitat. House sparrows and starlings are aggressive and capable of breeding multiple times within a single season. Both species are perfectly happy living in close proximity to humans and will gladly move into any available crevice in our buildings where they become very messy neighbors.

Fortunately, we have learned much more about how biological systems function, and laws are now in place to try to prevent another debacle similar to the house sparrows and starlings. However, we are still left today to deal with that particular "sin of our fathers" and can only hope that we have taken our lesson to heart.

News and Notes

»Within the Lynchburg Bird Club, a group of members known as the OWLS (older, wiser, livelier seniors) meet on a regular basis to monitor the birdlife at the Old City Cemetery. The group will meet tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. near the entrance gate for a short walk around the grounds. Visitors are welcome. For more information, call 384-8696.

»As summer winds to a close, the hummingbirds will soon be leaving us. Keep your feeders out until a week has passed without seeing any visitors. The feeders are an important source of food right now as the hummingbirds try to store the large amount of fat reserves needed for migration. I will leave my feeders up until mid-December in hopes that a western vagrant may come by to visit me.