HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: tony@zoo.toronto.edu (Anthony L. Lang)
Subject: ducks - diet
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 15:50:48 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology

In article 6736 "sharon ware" <sharon.ware@canrem.com> writes:

>Do ducks eat fish?  I found in the Encyclo. Britann. that there are some
>sea ducks that do, but I'm specifically trying to find out if domestic
>ducks, mallards, Canada geese, and swans eat fish.  Can anybody help?
>--
>Canada Remote Systems  - Toronto, Ontario
>World's Largest PCBOARD System - 416-629-7000/629-7044
>

Domestic ducks: I have known Pekin ducks (a white, heavy domestic breed
	of the Mallard, Anas platyrynchos) to eat goldfish in 
	backyard ponds.
Mallards:  No.  Wild birds eat primarily aquatic invertebrates
	in the breeding season and submergent aquatic vegetation at
	other times of the year.
Canada Geese (Branta canadensis):  No.  They graze on 
	terrestrial vegetation and also feed on submergent vegetation.
Swans (Cygnus sp.):  No.  They feed on submergent vegetation.
-- 
Anthony Lang
Dept. of Zoology, Univ. of Toronto
tony@zoo.utoronto.ca
From: kjt34420@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Kristin J. Thommes)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: peregrines
Date: 13 Oct 92 20:13:36 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.Bw2tIq.78I
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana

There has been a lot of argument going back and forth lately about
DDT and their effects on the peregrine population.  I read an 
article in Greenpeace magazine last year where they said that they
have found that coastal populations of the peregrines have been having
problems hatching a reasonable amount of offspring per clutch.  When 
they took some of the peregrine eggs for research, they found that
the contents of the eggs had a high concentration of DDE (I think),
which is the breakdown product of DDT, and the scientists felt that this
chemical was to blame for poor reproductive success, especially since 
inland popultaions were not having the same problems with the mortality
rate.  I'll have to go look up exactly when this article appeared so
that I can cite it for you all.

I'm not saying that any of your arguments are wrong...I just thought that
I would let you know that it appears to be more than just the thickness
of the shell.

If you wish to flame what I have said, fine, but please do it by email 
so that you don't take up anybody else's time but mine.

peregrine@uiuc.edu

--
From: rsl@cbnewsm.cb.att.com (randolph.little)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: neat little visitor
Summary: similar report from NJ
Date: 16 Oct 92 15:50:50 GMT
Article-I.D.: cbnewsm.1992Oct16.155050.1277
Distribution: na
Organization: AT&T

In article <srh3.719207921@Ra.MsState.Edu>, srh3@Ra.MsState.Edu (Steven R. Hollis) writes:
>      We have a neat little visitor at my house.  I think it is a carolina wren.
> There is a small space where one of our support columns meet the porch roof, and
> on this little 3" square space, this little guys sleeps at night.  No nest
> no padding just wood.  Cute to step out on the porch and see him all huddled
> up.  I say I think this is a carolina wren because most of the time I see him,
> his head is under his wing and his feathers are all fluffed up. Audubon 
> field guides don't really show pictures like that  :-)
> 
Most likely it is a Carolina Wren.  Noted a similarly situated roosting
Carolina Wren on a neighbor's porch two weeks ago here in New Jersey.  It
fluttered sleepily into an adjacent hemlock when the porch light came on
and my neighbor opened the door in response to my ringing of the buzzer.

Carolina Wrens seem, more than any other bird in the eastern U.S., to
be quite at home in porches and garages and entrance ways, i.e., under
the cover of a household roof, so long as there isn't too much human
traffic and the doorway remains open.  Pleasant song, too!

Good birding,       -- Randy    <randolph.little@att.com>
Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: bousman@xenon.arc.nasa.gov (BILL BOUSMAN)
Subject: Sooty Shearwaters
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: NASA Ames Res. Ctr. Mtn Vw CA 94035
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 21:00:00 GMT

There was a post from Monday where someone had noted a long 
stream of birds flying south off the central coast of
California and they asked for suggestions as to their
identification.  In El Nino or warm-water years we often
see pelagic species near shore, almost to the surf line.
Where normally we would expect to see shearwaters 5 or 10
miles off our coast, in these warm-water years they are
often near the shore and a treat for birding landlubbers
with weak stomachs or empty pockets.

A month ago I hiked north of Pesadero Beach and estimated
126,000 Sooty Shearwaters (Puffinus griseus) flying north
based on one minute samples taken approximately every
10 minutes.  I also saw one Pink-footed Shearwater (P.
creatopus) and a sooty with white secondaries on its
right wing (albinism).  This week and last the local Rare
Bird Alerts have noted that flocks of Black-vented 
Shearwaters (P. opisthomelas) have been seen locally from
shore.  So, my guess is the long stream was sooties, but
maybe it was the black-venteds.

Bill
From: wvenable@algona.stats.adelaide.edu.au (Bill Venables)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Urban Peregrines
Date: 7 Oct 92 23:05:12 GMT
Organization: Department of Statistics, University of Adelaide
NNTP-Posting-Host: algona.stats.adelaide.edu.au

Here's a little feel-good story for the week.

Last spring I reported on a pair of urban Peregrines that nested on a
building site in urban Melbourne.  Unfortunately the eggs did not hatch.  

Well this spring (yes, it is spring *up* here in Australia :-) they have
returned.  The building is now finished, but the owners put up a nesting
box, the pair are using it, and the two eggs have already hatched.  The
owners are now even considering setting up a remote TV monitoring camera so
that passers-by can see the progress from street level.

Bill
--
___________________________________________________________________________
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: tgl@ssd.kodak.com (Tom Lathrop 588-0677)
Subject: Birding near Geneva, Switzerland
Originator: tgl@jupiter
Organization: Eastman Kodak
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 92 19:00:14 GMT

I will be in Geneva next week and would like to do a little birding if
possible. I won't have much time - less than a day - and I'd like to
avoid getting a car if possible. Is there somewhere near Geneva which
I can get to by train or bus where I might see some birds? Is there
a good variety at this time of year?

I have not done any birding in continental Europe before, although I
did some in England last summer. I will not have a scope, just binoculars.

Tom Lathrop
tgl@ssd.kodak.com

Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: tony@zoo.toronto.edu (Anthony L. Lang)
Subject: Having a slow migration?
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1992 17:55:54 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology

Some evidence that the cold summer across 
much of Canada has resulted in
low production of young:

This year's census of White-fronted Geese produced only 10 per
cent hatch year birds.  "Normal" years average about 25 to
30 per cent hatch year birds.  This census is a cooperative
effort between the Canadian Wildlife Service and the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service.  In "good" years, the number goes
as high as 40 per cent.

An observer in York County in Ontario found breeding 
populations of swallows of all local species to be a fraction
of their average numbers in June.  In August, when there 
are normally large numbers of local and migrant swallows in the
region, there were less than 1 per cent of the average number.
This suggests that there were few young produced this year, 
but does not exclude the possibility that some of the missing
swallows were adults that migrated south early.
This observer was admittedly not conducting rigourously 
scientific surveys, but the near absence of swallows in 
August suggests that something was amiss.
-- 
Anthony Lang
Dept. of Zoology, Univ. of Toronto
tony@zoo.utoronto.ca
Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: jfinger@adobe.com (Jeff Finger)
Subject: Re: Eurasian Widgeon in Bay
Organization: Adobe Systems, Inc., Mountain View, CA
Distribution: ba
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 21:26:38 GMT


Joe Morlan (Joe.Morlan@f28.n125.z1.fidonet.org.) writes:
>> What do you mean by "several"?  How many did you see.

Having gone back there a number of times since then, and
having seen many American Widgeons with that same stripe
on the head, I am no longer convinced that I saw Eurasian
Widgeons, though it is possible. Chalk it up to lack of
experience --- I had never even heard of a widgeon before
that day.

I *definitely* did have the luck to see a Sacred Ibis at
Charleston Slough. The ranger at Baylands told me it apparently
escaped from captivity. What a bird!

Next on the agenda is to try to positively identify a pair of
what I think were grebes, swimming very low in the water in Adobe
Creek. But I want to observe them better before I ask...

Thanks to all who responded.

-- Jeff Finger --



Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: sid@jato.jpl.nasa.gov (Sid Johnson WB6VWH)
Subject: Re: Help with birding in California
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 15:29:36 GMT

In article <1992Oct10.012150.1@cgsvax.claremont.edu> bullism@cgsvax.claremont.edu writes:
>My wife and I have just moved to Claremont, CA from Maryland.  We are looking 
>for some places to bird that aren't too far away.  If anyone can suggest
>some spots in this urban environment please let me know!
>
>Thanks, Marty Bullis

Get the birding locality guide "Where Birders Go In Southern California"
by Henry E. Childs Jr.  You can order it from Audubon house in LA
1-213-876-0202.  Here are some localities near you listed in this guide:
Santa Fe Dam Rec. area, Big Dalton Canyon, Bonelli Regional County Park,
Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden (Clairemont), and San Antonio Canyon.

Get in touch with the Pomona Chapter of the LA Audubon.  Sorry I don't
have the number here but Audubon House should be able to help.  I believe
Kathy Green is the editor of their newsletter.

Other numbers of possible interest:  1-213-874-1318, the LA weekly tape of
rare bird sighting, 1-714-563-6516, the Orange County daily tape.

Hope this helps.  Good birding

Sid Johnson
Jet Propulsion Lab
sid@jato.jpl.nasa.gov


Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: eco@matsim.udmurtia.su (Stashenko Alexander)
Subject: Ornithological databases: looking for contacts
Reply-To: eco@matsim.udmurtia.su
Organization: Udmurt university and Mathematical simulation institute
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 05:27:50 GMT

Dear colleagues,

    I'm very interested in ornitological databases. I want to develop nest
biology and bird census databases in our university to all ornitologists
in our region (or may be in Russia in total). I think such databases are in
the world and I am interested in base structures to be possible add our data
to databases already exists.
    I'll be glad to receive any information about it.

Yours,
Alexander Stashenko

Ecology Modelling Lab.
Udmurt State University
Izhevsk
Russia
-- 


Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: tony@zoo.toronto.edu (Anthony L. Lang)
Subject: House Sparrows: roosting sites, nest defense and dispersal
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 22:04:30 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology

In article 6749  rhh@alice.att.com (r hardin) writes:


>Three house sparrows seem to be occupying a single bird house
>on my porch, where a pair raised several broods this summer.
>
>Is this a child returned, or a menagerie a trois?
>

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) males normally roost in
and defend their chosen nest holes year round.  Without knowing
the sexes and ages of your birds it is difficult to guess
what is going on.  However, I would guess that one of the birds
is an adult male and that the other two are either his mate and
one of their offspring, or two of his offspring.
A hatch year female would be hard to distinguish at this time
of the year unless you could see yellow skin at the corners
of the mouth.  Some male hatch year birds are still moulting
into their adult plumage now, at least at this latitude,
and so are ageable.  P. domesticus and P. montanus both
have only one annual moult in the fall.
Also: many House Sparrows do not disperse from their natal
site, so this could be a child that never left, rather
than a child returned.  If a mature male is involved, he
will chase them off by very early spring.
-- 
Anthony Lang
Dept. of Zoology, Univ. of Toronto
tony@zoo.utoronto.ca
From: Joe.Morlan@f501.n914.z8.rbbs-net.ORG (Joe Morlan)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Are you having a lat
Date: 15 Oct 92 07:12:00 GMT


        ***** On 10-05-1992, Mary Knopf wrote to All *****

MK> Two weeks ago, my husband and I stopped along Hwy 1 near
MK> Pescadero because we saw a huge flock of black birds flying
MK> south, low to the water.  We must have watched for 10 minutes
MK> but there was no end to the flock.  As we drove south, we
MK> tried to clock the birds.  My estimate is that they were
MK> flying at about 45 mph.  After we passed Ano Nuevo, we
MK> noticed that they were no longer with us.  I suspect that
MK> because it was near dusk, they stopped at Ano Nuevo for the
MK> night.

MK> We didn't have binoculars with us, only a camera with a
MK> telephoto.  I have been wondering ever since what type of
MK> birds we were watching.  They were black, bigger than a robin
MK> but not by much, pointed wings, I think.  Nothing about
MK> their shape stood out, legs, bills, necks....  Just a thin
MK> ribbon of black birds that seemed to go on forever, flying
MK> close to the water, occasionally joined by a brown pelican
MK> or two.  Does anyone know what they were?

Sooty Shearwaters.  They have been abundant close to shore this
year.

--Joe Morlan, Albany, CA
Joe.Morlan@f28.n125.z1.fidonet.org.

 * Origin: SeaHunt BBS, San Francisco (415-431-0473) (8:914/501)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: David Chiu
Subject: Mac-readable list of world birds
Reply-To: BCJAMES@USTHK.UST.HK
Organization: Biochem. Dept., HKUST
Distribution: international
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 03:03:59 GMT

 Is anyone aware of a Mac-readable list of the birds of the world, listed by
Latin binomial, with modern taxonomy (Sibley and Ahlquist?).I'm happy to pay
for it! Reply to email BCJAMES@USTHK.UST.HK. Thanks. Jim Hackett. Hong Kong.
Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: maryk@sco.COM (Mary Knopf)
Subject: Re: Are you having a late, slow migration?
Reply-To: maryk@scondrel.UUCP (Mary Knopf)
Organization: The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.
Date: Mon, 05 Oct 1992 20:59:28 GMT


In article <BvGLJu.Czw@zoo.toronto.edu> tony@zoo.toronto.edu (Anthony L. Lang) writes:
>
>What have other people been seeing this fall?
>Is the migration completely off in its numbers and timing?
>Are there fewer hatch year birds than normal?
>Did a lot of birds not breed and leave early?
>Did a lot of birds breed late and leave late?
>-- 
>Anthony Lang
>Dept. of Zoology, Univ. of Toronto
>tony@zoo.utoronto.ca



One of the birding highlights for me in central CA is to watch
the hawk migration from "Hawk Hill" overlooking the Golden Gate
Bridge (Marin Co, CA) but haven't been able to this year. Instead,
I have been watching for pole sitters along Highway 1 north of
Santa Cruz. So far, the sightings have been off but this is just
a subjective observation. 
 
There is one thing I wanted to ask about migrating birds: 
Two weeks ago, my husband and I stopped along Hwy 1 near Pescadero 
because we saw a huge flock of black birds flying south, low to 
the water. We must have watched for 10 minutes but there was
no end to the flock. As we drove south, we tried to clock the birds.
My estimate is that they were flying at about 45 mph. After we passed
Ano Nuevo, we noticed that they were no longer with us. I suspect that
because it was near dusk, they stopped at Ano Nuevo for the night.

We didn't have binoculars with us, only a camera with a telephoto.
I have been wondering ever since what type of birds we were watching.
They were black, bigger than a robin but not by much, pointed wings, 
I think.  Nothing about their shape stood out, legs, bills, necks.... 
Just a thin ribbon of black birds that seemed to go on forever, flying
close to the water, occasionally joined by a brown pelican or two.  
Does anyone know what they were?

Mary Knopf
....!uunet!sco!maryk   -or- maryk@sco.COM
-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mary Knopf                                uunet!sco!maryk  maryk@sco.COM
                                          The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Joe.Morlan@f501.n914.z8.rbbs-net.ORG (Joe Morlan)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Peregrine Diet
Date: 6 Oct 92 18:26:00 GMT


      ***** On 10-04-1992, Toby Bradshaw wrote to All *****

TB> Since American kestrels were widely used to experimentally
TB> study DDT effects on raptors, any genetic data would come
TB> from that program.

American Kestrels do not normally live long enough for residues
of DDT to build up to toxic levels in their tissues.  Are there
studies showing adverse effects of DDT usage in wild populations
of American Kestrels?

TB> I'm sure you realize that this is not evidence for genetic
TB> resistance; only a suggestion that genetics is one of
TB> several possibilities.

What other plausible mechanisms can you suggest to account for
the fact that not all Peregrines were equally effected by DDT?

TB> As for poaching, and egg collecting, and "unscrupulous
TB> falconers" (they exist, like unscrupulous people in all
TB> walks of life) causing the decline of peregrines: the same
TB> pressures existed in Great Britain for centuries with no
TB> significant decline until DDT use became widespread.

The serious decline was caused by DDT, but the actual extinction
of breeding populations was almost certainly caused by poaching.
I am convinced that wild populations would have been able to
recover without the expense of captive propagation, if the
successful breeding pairs had been left alone.  Is there
plausible evidence to the contrary?

TB> If they are "resistant", why are their shells thin?

Eggshell thickness is not the only factor affecting productivity.
The composition of the shell itself is just as important.  E.g.
if the shells are too porous, the eggs will fail regardless of
thickness.

TB> But evolution only has genetic variation as raw material.  No
TB> genetic variation, no evolution, period.

Genetic variation is caused primarily by an inherent error rate
in DNA replication.  This error rate (molecular clock) ensures
that there will be variation, therefore there will be evolution.

TB> Maybe four eyes would have adaptive value for woodcocks, but
TB> unless one is born that way, and the "four eyes" phenotype
TB> has a genetic basis, there's no variation on the "two eyes"
TB> theme, and no target for natural selection to favor "four
TB> eyes".

Evolution doesn't work this way at all.  A woodcock with four
eyes is a hopeful monster.  It is no more a unit of evolution
than a woodcock with two heads.

--Joe Morlan, Albany, CA
Joe.Morlan@f28.n125.z1.fidonet.org.

 * Origin: SeaHunt BBS, San Francisco (415-431-0473) (8:914/501)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: bullism@cgsvax.claremont.edu
Subject: Help with birding in California
Organization: The Claremont Graduate School
Date: 10 Oct 92 01:21:50 PST

My wife and I have just moved to Claremont, CA from Maryland.  We are looking 
for some places to bird that aren't too far away.  If anyone can suggest
some spots in this urban environment please let me know!

Thanks, Marty Bullis
Newsgroups: rec.birds
From: r0th@ellis.uchicago.edu (Dr. Samuel Conway)
Subject:  DDT and egg shell thinning, explained a bit further.
Reply-To: r0th@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 01:37:15 GMT

>I recently received a newspaper in the mail called the Freemarket News.
>It happened to contain an article about being a skeptic. The author claims
>that DDT is not the cause of thinning of egg shells in birds and that the 
>thinning of egg shells in birds appeared long before DDT was in use. 

Pardon me whilst I smirk in derision.

Thin-shelled eggs collected from failed clutches consistently showed very
high levels of DDE, a metabolite of DDT.  The shells of normal-thickness
eggs showed little if any DDE.  This evidence, though not irrefutable, does
give PRETTY STRONG credence to the notion that high levels of DDT had
something to do with the eggshells being so thin.

DDT apparently interferes with the calcium metabolism in female birds, 
leading to a lack of available calcium, and hence less material to build
eggshells.  In humans we call it "osteoperosis", though it is not likely
caused by DDT.  Or maybe it is...

>...  Are there any scientists that truly doubt the hazards of DDT? 

Not in this country there aren't.
Not any good ones, at least.

>This author claimed DDT breaks down into harmless substances after two 
>weeks!

I would like to know where he got his degree in chemistry.  DDT is a very
stable molecule, and persists in the environment for long periods of time.
Despite the published half-lives and initial studies done on its environ-
mental persistance, there are areas where dangerous levels of DDT can STILL
be measured in soil samples, even 20 years after the use of DDT was banned
in this country.

You will notice that I said "the use".  Not the manufacture.  We still
make the stuff, oh, tons of it!  It's a very lucrative material, because
our manufacturers happily sell it to Central and South American countries,
where its use is not regulated.  Now, considering that we have a few birds
who like to spend their winters in southern climes, lucky them, they are
still in danger of being exposed.

In case anyone wants to bring up the question as to why DDT seemed to affect
only certain species, it is because the effect is most dramatic (a) at the
top of the food chain, namely the raptors, and (b) concentrations build up
most rapidly in highly specialized species, such as fish-eating birds like
eagles and ospreys.


----
Dr. Samuel Conway         *  "If the guest isn't singing, 'Oh What a Beautiful
Roving chemist, wildlife  *  Morning' I don't immediately think, 'Oh, there's
rehabilitator, and all-   *  another one snuffed it in the night!'  Another
around nice guy!          *  name in the Fawlty Towers book of Remembrance.
r0th@midway.uchicago.edu  *  I mean, this is a hotel, not the Burma Railway!"
From: dmark@acsu.buffalo.edu (David Mark)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Some vintage bird names
Date: 9 Oct 92 14:57:07 GMT
Organization: UB

In article <1992Sep29.201058.119327@marshall.wvnet.edu> rcbi27@marshall.wvnet.edu (DBRUM) writes:
>In article <1992Sep27.234127.12747@dg-rtp.dg.com>, rice@dg-rtp.dg.com (Brian Rice) writes: 
>> I'd be interested in knowing of other old bird names.
>
>Old Name                New Name
>-----------             -----------------
>Partridge               Roughed Grouse
                         ^^^^^^^
                         Ruffed

And, now that I'm here, how about the "New York Warbler", whose scientific 
specific name is still 'novaboracensis', [sp?], Latin for "New York"?






Northern Waterthrush.

David Mark
dmark@sun.acsu.buffalo.edu
Organization: Penn State University
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 14:18:17 EDT
From: <PXF3@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: neat little visitor
Distribution: na
 <1992Oct16.155050.1277@cbnewsm.cb.att.com>

A couple of years ago we had a Carolina Wren build a nest on top of a jar of
nails in the garage.  She was very tame and wouldn't fly away when we
entered the garage.  In fact, she felt so at home that she raised a second
brood in a second nest built on top on my string mop that I had stored
strings up.  I was glad to let the kitchen floor go for a couple of weeks!
Paula
--
Paula Ford   | Internet: pxf3@psuvm.psu.edu  | PO Box 674
"Snaefridh"  | Bitnet:   pxf3@psuvm          | Hollidaysburg, PA 16648
Den som har droemt Udfaerd og Daad senker ej Sejl uden med Sorg,
                                  --Bjoernstjerne Bjoernson