HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: carmanr@lafcol.lafayette.edu (Carman Robert)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Barred Owls in the City
Summary: urban owls
Date: 7 Apr 92 19:43:51 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Lafayette College, Easton


I live in a suburban location well inside a metropolitan area of 650,000+.
A pair of great-horned owls frequents the neighborhood, and in season I hear
them booming away almost every night--sometimes in a pruce tree in my back
yard. (Spruce, that is.) We have a bountiful supply of skunks, alleged to 
to be favorite g.h.o. provender, and too many rabbits for the health of my
tulips, so I think they do not lack for food. 
  Some years ago I worked at a college located near the center of Schenectady,
a city of 75,000 or so. The campus included a garden area of several acres,
including an acre or so of tatty woodlands in a faintly wild state (though
heavily used by humanity). We regularly recorded barred owls among the nesting
species on campus, mostly in the garden area. We also had a substantial population of screech owls, which seemed to favor nests within the ivy on the buildings.
The ivy was apparently thickly grown enough to support eggs & young. A window
ledge high up on one building was semi-obscured by ivy and nearly always had
a pair in residence. One year, a sawwhet flew in through an open window and
dropped into a wastebasket in the student newspaper office, snagging a 
mouse snacking on discarded crusts in the basket. The owl must have been 
flying past the window, heard the mouses, and fell to, ignoring the presence
of startled student scribes. All this owl activity was appropriate, because
the college's motto mentioned Minerva (goddess of wisdom), who is often 
depicted with an owl on her helmet (cf. wise old...).
  The point, I guess, is that there probably is more owl activity in a lot
of urban areas than we generally realize. And why not? They move around when
human activity is at a comparatively low ebb, reducing the likelihood of 
detrimental interaction. And we are such slobs that we provide lots of habitat
and food for rodents--i.e. also habitat for owls. That's why New York City
has a program of planting barn owls in neighborhoods with rat problems--and
no doubt why the college's owls seemed to favor locations near fraternity
house kitchens, widely famed for their advanced sanitation practices. 
  My favorite urban owl encounter, though, happened 40 years ago in Boston. 
I was alking past the Old Granary Burying Ground (right in the very center of
the city but not far from the Common) on a proverbially dark and foggy night.
I was a few steps past the gate when when a screech  owl cut loose from a 
low-hanging branch not six feet away. I was halfway down Park Street and moving
briskly when it suddenly came to me that that couldn't have been old Sam 
Adams sounding a belated call to arms.
From: miken@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com (Mike Nickerson)
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1992 22:51:30 GMT
Subject: Re: Falconry
Organization: Hewlett Packard - Boise, ID
From: ka1gt@cbnewsm.cb.att.com (robert.m.atkins)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Newsgroups - rec.birds rec.wildbirds rec.wildlife
Date: 7 Apr 92 21:28:48 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: AT&T

I read this newsgroup regularly and would not object to a name change.
rec.wildbirds seems appropriate to me. On a related subject, does anyone
know of a newsgroup dealing with wildlife in general? something like
rec.wildlife or rec.mammals etc. Nothing like that seems to be available
at my newsreading site.

===============================================================
Bob Atkins  AT&T Bell Labs  email (direct)  att!clockwise!rma
===============================================================
From: adams@pyramid.unr.edu (Brian Adams)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: woodpeckers
Date: 13 Apr 92 17:23:47 GMT
Reply-To: adams@pyramid.unr.edu (Brian Adams)
Distribution: rec.birds
Organization: University of Nevada, Reno  Department of Computer Science

In article <AFORSTEN.92Apr10130844@aton.abo.fi> aforsten@aton.abo.fi (Annika Forsten INF) writes:
>I had a look at rec.hunting and noticed that they are discussing killing
>a woodpecker (Pileated) because it is hammering on a house. I suppose
>killing woodpeckers is illegal in the US? Could anybody with any good
>ideas on how to get rid of the woopeckers without killing them please post
>to rec.hunting. I believe it is a moderated group, so I guess any posting
>which sounds to environmental won't get through. But I hope they'd let some
>advice in. There were some suggestions, but if you have any better....
>
>annika forsten, finland

I have been following that thread in rec.hunting and asked him to please
not kill the bird. I don't know whether it got through the moderator.

However, I think you are confusing a side discussion about pileated
woodpeckers with an actual description of the pesky bird. I don't recall
the guy who has the problem actually describing the bird. I would say
it's most likely a flicker. It could even be a chickadee! Some one who
responded to his post was discussing pileated woodpeckers.

Brian



Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: burhans@teal.csn.org (Jackie Burhans)
Subject: Re: Bird Evolution
Organization: Colorado SuperNet, Inc.
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1992 16:23:23 GMT

In article <92Apr8.233937edt.47512@neat.cs.toronto.edu> maione@cs.toronto.edu (Ian Christopher Maione) writes:
>    In article 5772 Marshall Abrams writes .....
>   As for birds in general,  their evolution is a fascinating topic, one
>which I've given some personal study.  It turns out that all modern
>birds are the direct descendants of predatory dinosaurs.  The
>relationship between birds and dinosaurs is so close that a few people
>have suggested that it would be proper to classify birds AS dinosaurs!
>It is almost certain that birds evolved from a class of small predatory
>dinosaurs, the dromaeosaurs, which included such species as Velociraptor
>and Deinonychus.  The main evidence comes from the analysis of the
>skeleton of a creature dug up from the upper Jurassic period, called
>Archaeopteryx Lithographica, which is essentially a small theropod with
...stuff deleted cuz you've already seen it...
>    So, all you rec.bird'ers!  It might put a new twist in your
>birding to realize that those critters at your feeder are in fact
>living dinosaurs, and your pet bird is a close cousin of Tyrannosaurus
>Rex!

A good fiction book making use of these facts and tying in computers
and chaos theory is Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (also wrote
Andromeda Strain, Coma, etc.) An EXECELLENT book on many fronts,
I think birders will enjoy it though it isn't about birding per se.

Jackie Burhans
From: pdh@bdrc.bd.com (Perry D. Haaland)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: blue birds
Keywords: eggs
Date: 13 Apr 92 13:04:42 GMT


> Perry Haaland
> Chapel Hill, NC

We checked our blue bird house yesterday and there were four eggs!
There isn't any sign that incubation has started yet.
--
  Perry Haaland - pdh@bdrc.bd.com
From: adams@pyramid.unr.edu (Brian Adams)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Nuisance posts and rec.birds renaming
Date: 7 Apr 92 22:03:49 GMT
Reply-To: adams@pyramid.unr.edu (Brian Adams)
Organization: University of Nevada, Reno  Department of Computer Science

I vote for    rec.birds.watching   or   rec.birding.

Brian
From: aforsten@aton.abo.fi (Annika Forsten INF)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: woodpeckers
Date: 10 Apr 92 11:08:44 GMT
Distribution: rec.birds
Organization: Abo Akademi University, Finland

I had a look at rec.hunting and noticed that they are discussing killing
a woodpecker (Pileated) because it is hammering on a house. I suppose
killing woodpeckers is illegal in the US? Could anybody with any good
ideas on how to get rid of the woopeckers without killing them please post
to rec.hunting. I believe it is a moderated group, so I guess any posting
which sounds to environmental won't get through. But I hope they'd let some
advice in. There were some suggestions, but if you have any better....

annika forsten, finland
From: ilundy@spam.ua.oz.au (Ian Lundy)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Nuisance posts
Date: 6 Apr 92 07:09:45 GMT
Organization: Statistics, Pure & Applied Mathematics, University of Adelaide

There seem to have been a lot of posts recently from pet owners asking
questions about cage birds (btw the Cockatiel l'orange was delicious).  Some
of these seem to have been from people who were unaware of rec.pets.birds. 
Has it ever been suggested in the past that rec.birds should be 
rec.ornithology or something similar to make it clearer what this group is
about so that we get less of these posts.  Frankly I find them quite offensive.

Ian Lundy
Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: bburden@encore.com (Bruce Burden)
Subject: Information on Pribilhof Islands
Organization: Encore Computer Corporation
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 21:15:26 GMT





	For those people that have actually been to the Pribilhof (sp?)
    Islands, I am trying to find information to get there (some day).

 	I have the "official" Alaska vacation planner from '90,
    and while they mention the islands, they have no information on
    how to get there/who to contact.

	I know there are several companies that offer tours there,
    but I am looking to go myself.




							Bruce



--
Bruce Burden

						"I like bad!"
						- Thuganlitha
						"The Power and the Prophet"

Snail: Encore Computer Corp, MS407, 1801 NW 66th Ave, Plantation, FL 33313
Uucp: {pur-ee,sun,uflorida!novavax,uunet,mcnc!rti,etc}!gould!bburden
Internet: encore.COM!bburden
From: weiler@gumby.mgi.com
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: bluebirds return
Date: 7 Apr 92 18:49:13 GMT
Article-I.D.: gumby.1992Apr7.134913.1
Organization: Management Graphics, Inc.

In article <92094.124147BWARREN@MAINE.MAINE.EDU>, BWARREN@MAINE.MAINE.EDU writes:
> Yesterday a male bluebird returned to my back field, and today a female joined
> him as they both checked out the house they used last year.  Looks like they ar
> e going to get an early start.  Has anyone else had a bluebird return yet?  Thi
> s is my second year having them after 3 years of some failure but mostly succes
> s at attracting them to another location l/2 mile away.  Now there are many blu
> ebirds on our road and that is why I think they are now housing at my place.  W
> hat a joy it is to have them around.  Anyone else had luck attracting bluebirds
> ?
From Minneapolis/St. Paul area:

Today when I was out on a lunch errand, I spotted a pair of bluebirds
perched on a tree along a busy suburban street (79th St. in Bloomington).
They flew away towards a park nearby. What a thrill!

I live north of the Twin Cities (St. Cloud) and have two bb homes waiting 
for some lucky bluebirds. Last year we had one brood. We expect them to
return any day now.

We are members of the Bluebird Recovery Program affiliated with the
Audubon Society. As members, we receive newsletters and helpful hints.

Happy Spring!
Carol Weiler
From: tom@afthree.as.arizona.edu (Thomas J. Trebisky)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: pest control
Date: 11 Apr 92 01:13:28 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Oops, I thought for a minute this was another developing thread bashing the
bird-cage folks again!  :-)

In article <92101.133035TMH1@psuvm.psu.edu> TMH1@psuvm.psu.edu writes:
>I'll probably set off a chorus of jeers and criticism for this, and maybe my
>views will change as I get more and more into birdwatching, but I can't help
>responding to the comments about dealing with starlings, sparrows, etc.  I'm
>not crazy about starlings either, nor do I find much to like about grackles

Hold on now, what do you have against grackles!  Mess with them and
you'll have me to answer to!!   :-)

By the way, the starlings have returned to Tucson!  This must mark the
start of spring or something (kinda the same thing as the swallows returning
to Capistrano .... No?  You don't think so?)
--
	Tom Trebisky	ttrebisky@as.arizona.edu
From: meridiem@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Jill Engel)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Bird Evolution
Date: 10 Apr 92 00:53:54 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO  80523

Jackie Burhans writes:
>
>A good fiction book making use of these facts and tying in computers
>and chaos theory is Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (also wrote
>Andromeda Strain, Coma, etc.) An EXECELLENT book on many fronts,
>I think birders will enjoy it though it isn't about birding per se.
>
And a good *non*-fiction book on this topic (which JURASSIC PARK is based on,
at least as far as I could tell having read both) is Dr. Robert Bakker's 
THE DINOSAUR HERESIES.  Although mostly about the many misconceptions about
dinosaurs in the 20th century and proving most of them wrong, he devotes 
several chapters to warm-blooded dinosaur/birds.  It's also well-written and
interesting, not dry at all.

                                                                      Jill


*  Anne Meridiem (Jill Engel)  *"Cows don't give milk,        *
* meridiem@lamar.colostate.edu *                we take it... *
*                              *                              *
From: towolt@bunsen.lerc.nasa.gov (John Wolter)
Subject: Re: woodpeckers
Organization: NASA Lewis Research Center [Cleveland, Ohio]
Distribution: rec.birds
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 19:45:24 GMT

In article <299@lafcol.lafayette.edu> carmanr@lafcol.lafayette.edu (Carman Robert) writes:
>
>In my experience, sapsuckers are especially fond of drumming on shingles,
>downspouts, and other parts of houses, outbuildings, etc. Since they seem
>to prefer items that give off maximum noise and do it only in the springtime,
>I suspect it is mostly advertising--males trying to attract attention. We
>have an ailing mountain ash that seems especially attractive to sapsuckers,
>and from time to time one will cut loose on a nearby downspout. But it seems
>to do no damage and soon loses interest.  A pileated, though--now there's a
>real wrecking crew.

Woodpeckers are amazing.  Just by altering the way they peck, they can switch
between a mating call which makes alot of noise but does little damage to 
a feeding operation which cuts quickly and makes very little noise.

-- 
================> John D. Wolter    NASA Lewis Research Center <===============
=======> (216) 433-3941    FTS 297-3941    towolt@scivax.lerc.nasa.gov <=======
=======================> "You can always pull the plug" <======================
From: andrewt@cluster.cs.su.oz.au (Andrew Taylor)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: request for north american bird names
Date: 8 Apr 92 15:34:31 GMT
Organization: Dept. of Comp. Science, Uni of Sydney, Australia

I'd like an ASCII version of the ABA check-list. If you have such a thing
could you send me e-mail please?

Andrew Taylor
From: asb@calmasd.Prime.COM (Andy Ball)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Hummingbird nest.
Date: 14 Apr 92 23:22:14 GMT
Organization: Computervision, San Diego, CA


Forgive me if I'm violating some ancient tabu here, but I don't normally read
this group.  I have a quick question for a wild hummingbird expert.  There is
a nest behind my building at work, in a large pine tree along a walkway.  I'm
certain I couldn't have been the only one to notice this nest, so it seemed
amazing that the clutch of eggs remained undisturbed long enough to be hatched
and raised successfully.  The nest was right at eye level, about halfway from
the ends of the branches to the trunk of the tree... anyone could have just
reached in and touched it if they wanted to.  The little guys were pretty
damn cute as they developed into full fledged birds.

Here in sunny San Diego, it seems we have scads of these little fairies
flittering about.  Mostly the kind with shiny green plumage on neck and
throat (I'm obviously no expert).  My question is this; the babies have grown
and gone, and I don't see any sign of return of either of the mating pair.
The nest is really cool... tightly woven, about the size of a small ice
cream scoop.  I'd love to have it.  Is it safe to remove, or will these guys
tend to return and re-mate?  RSVP via E-mail.  Thanks.
- Andy Ball
-- 
                                            __________    __
                  weeeeeEEEEeeeee!      ____________   _/_L_L\____
                                                _____ (.-._____.-.(>
                                                       (_)     (_)
Newsgroups: rec.birds


I believe it is San Antonio reservoir and is North of Santa Barbara.  I
visited Hearst Castle a few years back and remember picking up a
pamphlet for the tours.  I cannot find the pamphlet anymore.  I don't
know who you could write to or what the nearest town is.

Sorry

- Bill G
From: tom@afthree.as.arizona.edu (Thomas J. Trebisky)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Changing Name of Group [Was Re: Nuisance posts]
Keywords: a rose by any other name
Date: 14 Apr 92 22:17:10 GMT
Followup-To: /dev/powersupply
Organization: University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

edm@verdix.com (Ed Matthews) writes:
>I'm going to keep watching birds and posting about what I see while the
>rest of y'all have petty arguments about how to keep two pet bird posts
>a month out of this group.  Relax; take your binoculars out and have a
>look at all those birds in beautiful fresh plumage.

Well said!  Good grief.

But if the name really needs to be changed, how about:

	rec.bird_weenies
	rec.birds_but_not_in_cages
	rec.birdsnobs

Any one of the above would be fine by me.
--
	Tom Trebisky	ttrebisky@as.arizona.edu
Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: rglaeser@sunc5.cs.uiuc.edu (Russ Glaeser)
Subject: Re: Nuisance posts and rec.birds renaming
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 01:04:40 GMT

Oh, yeah, those 1 or 2 pet bird posts a month are a real
pain in the ass.

Russ Glaeser
rglaeser@uiuc.edu
From: drintoul@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (David A Rintoul)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Prairie Chickens
Date: 6 Apr 1992 15:24:16 -0500
Organization: Kansas State University
NNTP-Posting-Host: matt.ksu.ksu.edu

Alan Uden's posting from s-central KS this morning prompted me
to write up my recent experience with this bird.

Just thought that I could let you all know that greater prairie
chickens are alive and well and booming on the Konza Prairie near
Manhattan.  A trip out to the blind last weekend in the rain was OK,
but a bit drizzly.  There were seven males displaying, but the females
had the good sense to stay home out of the rain...  Yesterday,
however, it was clear, bright, and almost WARM (approx. 50 deg F at
dawn).  Seven males again showed up, but this time there were 5
females.  One male had three of these on his turf most of the time,
and spent a great deal of energy scurrying back and forth to keep the
adjacent three males from encroaching on his territory.  But he did
have time for one mating (not that it takes much time, it was over in
approximately ten seconds!); this is the earliest I have ever seen
copulation on this lek.  The earliest date I could find in my records
was April 12; perhaps, like everything else, mating and nesting will
be early this year.

Another interesting first was the appearance of an adult Cooper's
hawk, who sat on a fence post and watched the proceedings for about
three minutes.  Not a usual bird on the ridgetops of a tall-grass
prairie.  After looking at these bizarre goings-on for a bit, she
apparently decided that a prairie chicken would be a bit of an
undertaking, and flew off down the hill.  Her appearance certainly put
a halt to the singing and displaying activities of the eastern
meadowlarks in the area, however.  Other interested spectators
included brown-headed cowbirds, crows, mourning doves, a robin, a
flicker, four white-tailed deer, and a fly-by kestrel.  The prairie
chickens, in the grip of hormonal surges, paid no attention to any
of these voyeurs.
 

-- 
Dave Rintoul            Internet: drintoul@matt.ksu.ksu.edu
Biology Division - KSU       BITNET: drintoul@ksuvm.ksu.edu
Manhattan KS 66506-4901                         TCN: id2418
(913)-532-5832 or 6663                  FAX: (913)-532-6653
From: cwilliamson@pimacc.pima.edu
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Birders Online Poster
Date: 17 Apr 92 06:11:02 GMT


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From: SUSAN.A..BOHN@OFFICE.WANG.COM ("Susan Bohn")
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Snake-catching bird
Date: 16 Apr 92 15:37:16 GMT
Organization: Mail to News Gateway

NOT A KESTRAL STORY, BUT...

A couple of years ago I was in Costa Rica with the Brookline Bird Club (MA).
We'd stopped the vans somewhere in the highlands (I'd have to dig out my
notebook to tell you exactly where) to watch a Swallow-tailed Kite, well,
kiting, I'd guess you'd say... it circled around us several times, then
dive-bombed a pine tree, going right into the foliage about 40-50 feet above
our heads... and came out with a skinny 2-3 foot snake in its talons!  It flew
away and up into a circling pattern again, every few moments reaching its feet
forward so it could take another bite.

Susan