HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: deby@cs.utwente.nl (Rolf de By)
Subject: Re: Birding in Europe
Organization: University of Twente, Dept. of Computer Science
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 13:16:01 GMT

In article <christea.3@dhhalden.no>, christea@dhhalden.no (CHRISTER ANDR JAKOBSEN) writes:
|> In article <1992Aug31.092357@cs.utwente.nl> deby@cs.utwente.nl (Rolf de By) writes:
|> 
|> >Well,
|> 
|> >There is something called EuroBirdNet, which was set up to keep birders
|> >here in Europe informed about what is/was happening in other countries.
|> >We have contributors from Great Britain, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany
|> >and the Netherlands. It is a simple, email-based, thing, with country
|> >representatives dispatching the news locally.
|> 
. . . 
|> 
|> Is this EuroBirdNet a mailing list? What's the e-mail address?
|> 
|> Christer

No, not a mailing list, each country simply has one representative who
collects news locally and sends it to the other countries' representatives.

We would just *LOVE* to have someone from Norway join the club, but the
first who joins for a country will automatically become that country's
repr. (No need for King Olav to grant you that!)

The following people are representatives, and you should contact them by
email if you want to join EBN for one of the countries below.

teet@kuling.docs.uu.se		Teet Sirotkin	Sweden
jhiggott@axion.bt.co.uk		Jeff Higgott	Great Britain
aforsten@aton.abo.fi		Annika Forsten	Finland (away for the moment)
anr@dgaipp1s.bitnet		Alan Rendall	Germany
popugbn@uts.uni-c.dk		Gary Nunn	Denmark
rauste@cc.helsinki.fi		Visa Rauste	Finland (taking over for Annika)
deby@cs.utwente.nl		Rolf de By	The Netherlands

As an indication of what you can expect I include today's message from
Jeff. Hope he doesn't mind . . .

-----------8<-----------------

EuroBirdNet			UK-92-21       1 September 1992

The bank holiday proved to be very quiet apart from Britain's fourth
Ruppell's Warbler (Sylvia ruepelli) which was found at Holme in north-west 
Norfolk yesterday.  It initially hit the grapevine as a Subalpine Warbler 
(S. cantillans) before being reidentified.  

It is a female or immature, and to be honest looks nothing at all like a
Subalp.  Unfortunately is is visible in a restricted mist-net ride,
so viewing is only possible for around 15 people at a time.  It is keeping
to one small area, and showing fairly regularly, so lots of people were
ushered in and out yesterday.  The bird is still present today, so all
those unfortunate enough not to see the bird before dark can have another
go!

Jeff...

------------8<-----------------

-- 
Rolf A. de By
Vakgroep Informatiesystemen			Tel   : +31-53-893753
Faculteit der Informatica			secr. : +31-53-893690
Universiteit Twente				Fax   : +31-53-339605
Postbus 217, 7500 AE Enschede			Email : deby@cs.utwente.nl
The Netherlands
From: br105@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jeffrey A. Del Col)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Owl and Corvid behavior
Date: 1 Sep 1992 15:22:34 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: br105@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jeffrey A. Del Col)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc8.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, khamil@med.unc.edu (Katherine G. Hamil) says:

>
>	Anyone interested in learning more about owl and corvid
>	behavior should read these 2 excellent books (IMHO):
>	"One Man's Owl" and "Ravens in Winter" . Both are
>	written by Bernd Heinrich. They are scientifically
>	accurate, contain thorough bibliographies and are
>	extremely readable. 


IMHO,  RAVENS IN WINTER  is superb.  RITES OF AUTUMN by Dan O'brien is very 
good too-  an account of trying to return a peregrine falcon to the wild. 

	There was an episode of Nature recently that
showed a pair of Pel's Fishing Owls at work and at play (mating) in the 
Okavango Delta. 

I'm trying to locate a copy of the Nature episode about Bateleur eagles.  If
anyone knows how to get one (it's an old episode, maybe 5 years or more), 
please contact me by E-mail to << del_col@ab.wvnet.edu>>

Jeff
-- 
Jeff Del Col      *       "I'm never lonely,...living in my heavily      
A-B College       *   populated solitude, a harum-scarum of infinity        
Philippi, WV      *   and eternity, and Infinity and Eternity seem to          
                  *   take a liking to the likes of me." Bohumil Hrabal.       
Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: andrewt@watson.ibm.com (Andrew Taylor)
Subject: Re: Penguins
Date: Wed, 02 Sep 1992 15:10:38 GMT
Disclaimer: This posting represents the poster's views, not necessarily those of IBM
Organization: IBM T.J. Watson Research Center

In article <1992Aug29.144941.24158@mlb.semi.harris.com>
mwp@ms9.mis.semi.harris.com (Mark W. Poole) writes:
> The underlying question is "is there a bird that is also a mammal?" 

Yes, the Mousebirds, not Penguins. Mousebirds are a small African bird family.
group. It has long been known, as their name syggests, that they have several
striking similarities to rodents. These had formerly been attributed to
convergent evolution but recent research [1] has produced strong evidence
that it is the result of a, presumably viral mediated, transfer of a gene from
a rodent.  So in a very real sense Mousebirds are part mammal.

Although convincing evidence for such gene transfers between plant lineages has
been found, the discovery of such a transfer between vertebrates was
extermely suprising.

Andrew Taylor

[1] Humbug, A. "Evidence for Rodent Avian Gene Transfer", Journal for
Irreproducible Results, April 1992.
Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: rsl@cbnewsm.cb.att.com (randolph.little)
Subject: Re: How to spot an owl
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: na
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 19:21:30 GMT
Summary: Fall activity
Keywords: owls

In article <d05epdz@Unify.Com>, grp@Unify.com (Greg Pasquariello) writes:
> 
> In my experience birds respond best in early spring and early fall.  I
> can understand why in the spring.  But why in the fall?  I have noted
> many owl species becoming very vocal in September, and I have yet to 
> get a satisfactory answer as to why that might be.
> 
Greg's observation is right on; many owls have a second season of vocal
activity in the fall.    Non-migratory territorial species such as Great Horned
and Barred Owls, as well as Ruffed Grouse and Pileated Woodpeckers, for exam-
ple, exhibit a "fall dispersal" during which young of the year leave their
home territories and seek new territories of their own.  Whether they do this
spontaneously or are "kicked out" by their parents, I don't know; but the
result is a lot of strangers looking for prime habitat.  Hooting and drumming
at this season probably serve much as in the spring, that is, to advertize
territorial domains, to attract potential mates and to repel competitors.

Good birding,  -- Randy  <rsl@bonasa.att.com (Randolph S. Little)>
Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: kathe@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (katherine.e.fagan)
Subject: Re: Need help spotting an owl
Organization: AT&T
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1992 21:39:55 GMT

In article <18742@bunny.GTE.COM> rv01@gte.com (Robert Virzi) writes:
>
>hand...
>
>So what should I be doing to increase my chances of spotting this bird?
>It is quite active (hoot-wise) in the morning, and I try to have my
>morning coffee looking toward the noise.  The thread on morning activity
>leads me to believe that although it is active vocally, it is not actually
>out looking for food, hence this is not a good time to spot it.  What
>would a better time be?  Are there other techniques I should be using
>to spot it?  Is winter generally better than summer for this sort of
>thing?
>

I'm not an expert at owl-watching, but I've heard a couple of things
from other birders that may be useful.  First,  great horned owls are
large and like to hoot in the early morning hours, especially at their
(early) breeding time which I believe is January/February.  A year or
so ago, I was treated to the sight of a gho hooting in a tree outside our 
2nd story window.  After a few minutes, I realized there was another
owl answering.  Just as I came to this realization, the other owl flew
up and the two "got it on".  Shortly thereafter one flew away (I think
it was the second) and 2 or 3 minutes later the first flew away.  What
a blast!  And from the comfort of our spare bedroom which, by the way,
is within city limits (but near a park)!  Since gho's are not uncommon,
perhaps that's what your bird is.

Second, I think I read that owls tend to roost in the same place day
after day, and that gho's like conifers.  You could look around under
the trees in the vicinity of the hoots you heard for owl droppings
or pellets.  Maybe you'll see the bird roosting in the tree above!

Happy Hooter Hunting!
Kathy
From: kathys@seabeast.Corp.Sun.COM (Kathy Slattery)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: How can I keep ants off of my hummingbird f
Date: 3 Sep 1992 16:48:58 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Distribution: world
Reply-To: kathys@seabeast.Corp.Sun.COM
NNTP-Posting-Host: seabeast.corp.sun.com

> In article 19330@pony.Ingres.COM, boba@Ingres.COM (Bob Andrews) writes:
> Does anybody have any suggestions (preferably from experience) of how
> to keep the ants off of the feeder so the hummers will return?
> Thanks.

The best thing I have found to keep ants off of hummingbird feeders
(and other things) is to put a ring of "Tanglefoot" around the feeder
or the wire the feeder is hanging from. You can buy "Tanglefoot" 
or other products like it at many garden supply shops. It is a very 
sticky substance and ants get stuck if they try to cross it. Usually
they will give up after a day or so. I use it to keep ants out of our 
hummingbird feeders and cherry tree. The only problem I have
had with it is occassionally forgetting that it is there and
getting it on my hands.

Good luck!
	Kathy


Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: boba@Ingres.COM (Bob Andrews)
Subject: Ants-be-gone.  Follow-up to hummingbird feeder dilemma.
Reply-To: boba@Ingres.COM (Bob Andrews)
Organization: Ingres, an Ask Company, Alameda CA 94501
Distribution: na
Date: 4 Sep 92 02:50:29 GMT

I got lots of good suggestions for keeping ants off of my hummingbird
feeder.  Thanks to everyone for their responses.

The recommendations fell neatly into 2 categories:

Sticky:

	Coat the access to the feeder with something sticky, the two
	suggestions being double-sided tape and Tanglefoot (available
	from nurseries).

Oily:

	Coat the access to the feeder with an oily substance such as
	axle grease, motor oil, or petroleum jelly.

	Create a moat of oil blocking access to the feeder, such as an
	upside-down bottle cap impaled on the hanging wire and filled
	with oil.  Best to use vegetable or mineral oil as petroleum
	products may spill onto feeder and be toxic.

I decided to try coating the hanging wire (coat hanger wire) with
petroleum jelly.  It worked!  The ants hate it and stop dead when they
reach it!  I coated the top hook and the top 10 inches of the wire,
leaving 2 inches where I can grab it to refill the feeder.  Within 4
hours the hummers were back! 

I'm hoping the petroleum jelly will last until I have to refill the
feeder.  I'll keep rec.birds updated as to what works or doesn't work
in the long run.  Thanks again for all the suggestions.  The local
hummers thank you, too, though the local ants aren't too thrilled.  :-)

	BobA
--
 _____________________________________________________________________________
|      o                              o    o    o        o    o    o          |
|_____________________________________________________________________________|
 Bob Andrews             Ingres, An ASK Company                boba@ingres.com
From: wvenable@algona.stats.adelaide.edu.au (Bill Venables)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Radio tracking of birds: help me!
Date: 30 Aug 92 11:48:40 GMT
Organization: Department of Statistics, University of Adelaide
In-reply-to: billg@hpspdla.spd.HP.COM's message of 28 Aug 92 14:51:31 GMT

>>>>> "Bill" == Bill Gingras <billg@hpspdla.spd.HP.COM> writes:

Bill> I'm not at all an expert in the field, but my hunch is that
Bill> electronics have yet to become so compact that you could build a
Bill> transmitter small enough to attach to a passerine bird.  Small
Bill> electronic "tags" exist that can be implanted under the skin, but
Bill> these are for identification only, not tracking.  You have to pass a
Bill> sensor very close to the bird in order to pick up the signal from the
Bill> tag.

I saw an interesting programme on Australian TV a few nights ago about the
American cowbird in which they were indeed tracking birds by small radio
transmitters attached externally to the cowbird's back.

The programme pointed out that the cowbirds were not a problem sufficiently
far into *undisturbed* forest, however (through tracking) they found that
it only takes a single road into the forest to give the cowbirds a way in.

You folks in the US do seem to have a nasty problem there, all right!

Bill V.
--
___________________________________________________________________________
Bill Venables, Dept. of Statistics, | Email: venables@stats.adelaide.edu.au
Univ. of Adelaide, South Australia. | Tel: +61 8 228 5412  Fax: ...232 5670
Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: boba@Ingres.COM (Bob Andrews)
Subject: How can I keep ants off of my hummingbird feeder?
Reply-To: boba@Ingres.COM (Bob Andrews)
Organization: Ingres, an Ask Company, Alameda CA 94501
Distribution: na
Date: 3 Sep 92 00:52:25 GMT

Background: I work in Alameda California, just across the Bay from San
Francisco.  We have mostly Anna's hummingbirds here.  We also have
sugar ants.

I put up a small Perky Pet feeder outside my new office window.  Within
a week it was discovered and drained!  I then bought a larger,
Rubbermaid feeder (inverted bottle drains into base that has holes on
upper surface).  As I was replacing the feeder the hummers were
chattering at me to hurry up.  The new feeder was an immediate hit.

A few days later, however, the hummers stopped feeding, yet I could see
there was still plenty of fluid.  I went out to see if the base wasn't
filling only to discover that the entire feeder was covered with sugar
ants!

The feeder is currently hanging from a tree branch using a foot length
of coat hanger wire with a hook at each end.  Is there some other
arrangement (monofilament? ant-guards?) that will keep the ants off the
feeder?  The last thing I want to do is use insecticide, as hummers are
so susceptible to poisons.

Does anybody have any suggestions (preferably from experience) of how
to keep the ants off of the feeder so the hummers will return?
Thanks.

	BobA
--
 _____________________________________________________________________________
|      o                              o    o    o        o    o    o          |
|_____________________________________________________________________________|
 Bob Andrews             Ingres, An ASK Company                boba@ingres.com
From: wander@csa2.lbl.gov (ADRIAN WANDER)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: UK News
Date: 28 Aug 92 12:09:06 GMT
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory - Berkeley, CA, USA
Reply-To: wander@csa2.lbl.gov
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.254.197
Keywords: August Highlights
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.3-4   

Recently, a request was posted regarding bird news from Europe. Well, I can
help out with the UK:

The month began in great style with Britain's second Red (Rufous) Necked Stint
at Cley in Norfolk for a couple of days. The bird (like the first at Blacktoft
Sands, Humberside) was in full summer plumage and much appreciated by many
people. Cley followed up a few days later with Britain's tenth Greater 
Sandplover (a 1st summer or adult female bird.....anyone know how to tell them
apart?) The bird was present for several days commuting between the reserve
and nearby Blakeney Harbour. During the same period the Lesser Crested Tern
(from the Farne Islands) roosted for two consecutive nights at Minsmere in 
Suffolk. We also had a couple of Pacific Golden and one American Golden Plovers.
Seawatching from Cornwall was good, with a large passage of Cory's Shearwaters
aswell as good numbers of Mediterranean Shearwaters past Porthgwarra early
in the month. With the departure of the Sandplover from Cley, the same or
a second bird was found in Essex. The remainder of the month has been very
slow. A fairly constant west or south west wind has resulted in no sizable fall
on the east coast, although a few Barred, Icterine and Greenish Warblers have
shown up togther with a few Wrynecks and at least one Arctic Warbler.
The real highlight of the year todate however occurred last week when Britains
third Yellow Warbler was trapped and rung on North Ronaldsay (Orkney).
Unfortunatley, like the previous two it proved to be a short stayer, having
disappeared by the following day. With a steady run of Atlantic depressions
tracking across from the US east coast, hopefully there's another good
American landbird or two hiding somewhere!

(The above is a brief summary of recent sightings from memory....I don't have
my notes with me. If people are interested, I can provide fully summaries every
month.....comments via e-mail to aw133@phx.cam.ac.uk).

Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: pel@resntl.bhp.com.au (Paul Osborn)
Subject: Re: Need help spotting an owl
Keywords: neophyte
Organization: BHP Research - Newcastle Labs
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 00:56:40 GMT

In article <5151@blue.cis.pitt.edu.UUCP> tirone@neurocog.lrdc.pitt.edu (Steve Tirone) writes:
>From: tirone@neurocog.lrdc.pitt.edu (Steve Tirone)
>Subject: Re: Need help spotting an owl
>Keywords: neophyte
>Date: 25 Aug 92 20:03:45 GMT

>In article <18742@bunny.GTE.COM>, rv01@gte.com (Robert Virzi) writes:

>[trying to identify an owl]
>|> 
>|> So what should I be doing to increase my chances of spotting this bird?

>        Thats the question I have also.  First though, I would advise that it is
>probably easer to identify the owl by its vocalizations than by sight.  Each
>species seems to have a very distinct call.  (This conclusion comes from
>sampling the calls I have listened to on tapes of the Eastern NA subset of the
>owl species.)   Get a bird call tape from the library or something, listen to the
>owls a few times, and I'll bet you'll have that bird ID'd pretty quickly. 

>        I also want to know though what is a good way to spot owls?  I've seen
>people post about "owl trips", where it seems they go about with red flashlights,
>birding at night.  Is this a good way to find owls?  I'd like to add to my list
>of owls seen -- any suggestions?

>Steve
>tirone@neurocog.lrdc.pitt.edu

>                        "Ever notice how decisions make chain reactions?"
>                                                        --Calvin

One way is to go out at night with a tape recording of owl calls and get the 
bird to come to you. Be aware though that some people consider this practice 
to be unnecessarily stressful to the birds (and I guess, their prey).
-------- PAUL R OSBORN, Research Scientist, Sensing Technology --- /\/\ --
                BHP Research - Newcastle Laboratories, Australia  / / /\
Snail   :       P.O. Box 188, Wallsend, NSW 2287                 / / /  \
Tel     :       +61 49 51-0605  Fax : +61 49 50-2126            / / / /\ \
Telex   :       AA 28768                                        \ \/ / / /
Internet:       pel@resntl.bhp.com.au                            \  / / /
----------------------------------------------------------------- \/\/\/ -
From: Joe.Morlan@f501.n914.z8.rbbs-net.ORG (Joe Morlan)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Bolivia trip Part 4
Date: 2 Sep 92 23:03:02 GMT


Hi Rolf,

The system I get rec.birds from is limited to messages of 100
lines.  The last 100 lines of Part 4 of your trip report were
missing from my mail packet.  If possible could you repost that
part or email me at:

Joe.Morlan@f28.n125.z1.fidonet.org.

Thanks in advance.

 * Origin: SeaHunt BBS, San Francisco (415-431-0473) (8:914/501)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: yozzo@watson.ibm.com (Ralph Yozzo)
Subject: Canadian Geese and Tuberculosis
Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1992 15:18:23 GMT
Disclaimer: This posting represents the poster's views, not necessarily those of IBM
Organization: IBM T.J. Watson Research Center

I live in the Northeast part of the U.S.A. and I notice a lot of
Canadian Geese.  I don't remember them when I was younger.  Their 
population seems to be growing.
 
 I've been told that the geese are carriers of tuberculosis. 
 Does anyone know if this is true?  And if so, what are the
 chances of catching it by simply walking near the geese or 
 their droppings (which, by the way, are everywhere)?

-- 
Ralph Yozzo (yozzo@watson.ibm.com)  
From the beautiful and historic Mid-Hudson Valley area of NY state
Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: rim@csadfa.cs.adfa.oz.au (Bob McKay)
Subject: Re: Why do birds ... -- The dawn chorus
Organization: Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra, Australia
Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1992 00:08:10 GMT

wvenable@algona.stats.adelaide.edu.au (Bill Venables) writes:

>>>>>> "Ralph" == Ralph Yozzo <yozzo@watson.ibm.com> writes: 

>Ralph>  Why do birds make an especially loud clatter when the sun rises?  I

>Ralph>  And if true, why is it so?

>Yes they do.  I have always thought it was to proclaim and advertise their
>territories at the start of a new day, which is often the time of peak
>feeding.

Mmm, trouble is, if they're singing at the time of peak feeding, it's
also the time of peak cost to them if they're being distracted by singing???
My tuppence worth: for most birds, night is the time of highest predation 
danger, so the advertising in the morning is more 'Ha, I made it through the
night - you can't steal my territory today!!', and is thus a way of avoiding,
right from the start, and perhaps at the time when the cost of disrupted
feeding is highest, the distraction of combative territorial defence. 
This hypothesis would be dead in the water if any nocturnal birds sang at 
dawn, but I can't think of any that do.
-- 
Bob McKay		   	Phone:	+61 6 268 8169	    fax: +61 6 268 8581
Dept. Computer Science		Internet:	rim@csadfa.cs.adfa.oz.au
ADFA, Northcott Dve 		UUCP:...!uunet!munnari!csadfa.cs.adfa.oz.au!rim
Campbell ACT 2600 AUSTRALIA	ARPA:	rim%csadfa.cs.adfa.oz.au@uunet.uu.net
From: zoetrope@cup.portal.com (Devan DzM MacFarlane)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: A database of breeders
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 92 17:41:29 PDT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Distribution: world

Is there an active, up-to-date database of breeders available on the net? If
there is one could someone please forward me information on it? And, if there
isn't one, would there be any interest in my starting one?

Thanks;

DzM
Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: troach@netcom.com (Tom Roach)
Subject: Venezuela birding
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 92 14:56:01 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Keywords: venezuela trip bird

I am planning on a trip to Venezuela (about two weeks) most of
which will be spent birding. I would appreciate any hints on
books, places to see, mammals to see, etc.

Thanks.

Tom Roach
From: billg@hpspdla.spd.HP.COM (Bill Gingras)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Radio tracking of birds: help me!
Date: 28 Aug 92 14:51:31 GMT
Organization: HP Stanford Park - Palo Alto, CA


I'm not at all an expert in the field, but my hunch is that electronics
have yet to become so compact that you could build a transmitter small
enough to attach to a passerine bird.  Small electronic "tags" exist
that can be implanted under the skin, but these are for identification
only, not tracking.  You have to pass a sensor very close to the bird in
order to pick up the signal from the tag.

- Bill G
Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: rising@zoo.toronto.edu (Jim Rising)
Subject: Olive-sided Flycatcher, etc
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 13:00:13 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology

I'd like to echo Daan's comment and urge posters once again to
indicate where, when, and in what habitat they have spotted
(or striped) something.  Olive-sided Flycatchers are doubtless
in full migration now, and could turn up nearly anywhere.  Like
Daan says, look for them at the top of a tree in a dead branch.
-- 
Name:     Jim Rising
Mail:     Dept. Zoology, Univ. Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada    M5S 1A1
UUCP:     uunet!attcan!utzoo!rising 
BITNET:   rising@zoo.utoronto.ca
Newsgroups: rec.birds