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Conservation of HabitatDate: Sun, 11 Nov 2001 12:09:19 -0600 In cleaning out my inbox, I came across a posting from Sarah regarding house
sparrows and starlings, with a link to her webpage. I decided to check the web
page out, and it is EXCELLENT! From: "Elaine Whitworth" visionfarm"at"earthlink.net Saw the first snowbird in an elm tree while I was working in the flower bed. have not seen them at the feeder. Robins r still here too:-) Elaine in NW TN From: "Bill Darnell" bdarnel3"at"bellsouth.net "A federal grand jury has returned an indictment against a Miami man authorities say had 44 birds hidden in his pants when he arrived on a charter flight from Havana," the Associated Press reports. "Suspicious airport inspectors asked Avila to raise his pant legs and saw something strapped to his legs when he arrived in Miami Oct. 31. A final count of the birds included some Cuban melodious finches, which are popular pet songbirds." If Avila is convicted, he could face a $250,000 fine and five years in the cage. http://ap.tbo.com/ap/florida/MGA9JOOT1UC.html Bill Darnell Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2001 18:49:44 -0400 Haleya Priest Amherst MA Great information from one of our MBA members: www. nwf. org Certify Your Backyard with National Wildlife Federation Find out how and why you should become certified in the National Wildlife Federationâ*™s Backyard Wildlife Habitat program. As of August 10, 2000 there are 26,885 certified Backyard Wildlife Habitat sites. Having your yard certified as an official Backyard Wildlife Habitat site is easy. Everyone who provides the four basic habitat elements (food, water, cover, and places to raise young) and who takes steps to conserve natural resources in their yard may apply for certification. Just download and complete the application, then send it in with your $15 registration fee. Get the Application Application for Certification (155K) The Application is in Adobe PDF Format - Click on the link to download the Application. Click here if you need help with PDF If you are having difficulty with the .pdf application, try printing the .html application Order an information kit with application included. Contact us and request an application. When your application is received, it will be reviewed by NWF naturalists to see that the four basic elements are provided in your plan. It is not necessary to have a full-grown habitat before seeking certification. Whether youâ*™re just beginning your Backyard Wildlife Habitat project or youâ*™ve been providing wildlife habitat for years, your efforts are valuable to wildlife and worthy of recognition. When you are certified, you will receive a handsome, personalized certificate from the National Wildlife Federation, recognizing your yard as an official Backyard Wildlife Habitat site. Your habitat will be assigned its own unique number, and it will be entered into our computer-based National Register of Backyard Wildlife Habitat sites. You will be part of a network of 26,885 people who share their living space with the wildlife in their communities. If you wish, an announcement of your achievement will be sent by NWF to local news media. You will begin to receive the Habitats quarterly newsletter, free-of-charge, and will be notified of any NWF training opportunities or special events planned for your area. Once certified, you are eligible to purchase the Backyard Wildlife Habitat sign to post in your habitat. From: BBBMV"at"aol.com For people looking for a place to help restore habitat please don't overlook The Nature Conservancy. They buy, lease and make conservancy deals in all sorts of ways. They have millions of acres that they own or have under contract and not only in this country but in others that help our neo-tropical specie. Yours, Bill Davis From: NEOBIRD"at"aol.com Hi All, You can find ways to donate to land conservation organizations for free at my web site - The Nature Conservancy and others. I definitely think The Nature Conservancy does some great work! Chris Otahal Check Out My Home Page On Bird Migration Studies: http://hometown.aol.com/neobird/myhomepage/index.html From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas Habitat loss is directly tied to population. There are 4 acres of land plowed under each year in the US for 7 major crops for every person in the US. Add land that is mined for minerals, coal or cut for timber, covered in water for reservoirs ETC. and you see an awful lot of land that is drastically altered for 10-50 years but could be returned to normal. Probably an acre or two of buildings per person when you count schools, churches, hospitals and office and manufacturing and these along with roads, driveways and mowed right of ways that are all hazardous to wildlife and you lose millions more acres of habitat permanently. Even if you buy land and set it aside it must be PERFECT for the target species! Bluebirds are fortunate in that they can tolerate widely diverse habitat but it still must maintain short grass for feeding in summer. Nestboxes for nesting or natural cavities which only occur when the correct habitat exists for primary cavity nesters and the CORRECT species of trees susceptible to being used by the primary cavity makers! There must be cover from predators and food for cold winter nights. I was born in Stark County Ohio in 1954 where this topic first began. We fed the birds from the time I was born and had almost a hundred pairs of Purple Martin's nesting on the farm each summer and at least 6 unused bluebird boxes! I never saw a bluebird until we moved to Texas in June of 1964! The last bluebird nesting or even seen or heard on the farm was shot by a neighbor boy about 1957. The bluebirds were common in northeast Ohio in the 193040's and were common again on the old Ohio farm by the early 1980's BECAUSE NABS Ohio members began placing thousands of nestboxes throughout the state. There were more mild winters in the 70's compared to the 50's60's and possibly the pesticide use was changing. The human population is larger now in that area but the big farms are breaking up and selling off of frontage has created 1&2 acre homesites and MANY of these have nestboxes and bird feeders in the yard. Instead of hundreds of unbroken acres of 7 foot tall corn the crop land is being replaced with acres of mowed yards. For bluebird protection for the ages we need to be doing what Linda Violett is doing and that is to educate the next generation and to show people,especially small landowners, first hand how to bring back different species of birds in each of our areas. KK From: "Bruce Burdett" blueburd"at"srnet.com Keith, et al, On the general subject of Bluebird habitat. I can point out a few things that are peculiar to our state of New Hampshire, and to most of New England as well. I read recently that a century or so ago New Hampshire was about 65% cleared by market gardening, dairy farming, and, of course, logging. In 2001, the percentage has dropped to about 35%, and the rest of the state is now largely forested. In other words, the proportions have just about reversed in the last 100 years. I need not point out that when white men first appeared here in the 1600s, the area was almost entirely covered by forests, including a lot that was virgin old-growth. Since densely forested regions are inhospitable to Bluebirds, things have gotten tougher for them, not easier, and thus New Hampshire remains a relatively Bluebird-poor state despite all our efforts. Bruce Burdett, in SW NH From: "judymellin" judymellin"at"netzero.net Here is a slightly different viewpoint on this subject. This is from a presentation at a Stewardship Forum at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL., January 29, 2000 called Effects of Land Management on Illinois' Bird Population. This particular topic was "Large Scale Factors in Restoration" presented by Angelo Capparella, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Zoology, IL. State University, who attributes what is happening today to overconsumption, even more than overpopulation. From a handout: "The ecological footprint measures our use of nature's resources. Every person, region or nation depends on ecological capacity to sustain itself. A population's ecological footprint corresponds to the aggregate land/water area in various ecosystem categories that is claimed by that population to produce all the resources it consumes, and to absord all the waste it generates on a continuous basis, using prevailing technology. SUSTAINABLE: 1.7 hectares per person UNITED STATES: 8.49 hectares per person He went on to elaborate that it is both overpopulation and overconsumption that are causing the loss of habitat but his feelings were that consumption is the greater threat. He said that it is not so much the world's population the is causing the problem but their desire to live the American dream. His words as I noted them: population momentum- people have decided to only replace themselves with the number of children they have but the older generations keep living so we are moving nowhere near to balance people overpopulation vs. consumption overpopulation both lead to depletion of resources and the whole world aspires to consume at the level we do in US Judy Mellin ----- Original Message ----- From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com ... |
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