Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1921-12-02

thrashers seek their insect prey or near the
ground; woodpeckers, nuthatches titmice, and
chickadees closely search the trunks and limbs q
trees; vireos and warblers the leaves and
probe the flowers; and fycatchers and swallows
sweep their prey from the air itself Every Few
minutes all day long the hungry young must be
fed and that they well fed their rapid growth
attests. The quantity OF Insects they ana tnelr
parents consume is enormous. Not only orchards
benefit by the good work of BIRDS but gardens
berry patches, and plowed and newly soWn fields
as well. While fields actually grown to tail crops
are less freely visited all crops helped to some
extent, and practically every farm pest has It's
bird enemies
To learn exactly how and to what extent birds
are aids to agriculture horticulture, and forestry,
the biological survey has been making scientific
study of their food habits ever since its establish
Ynent in 1885 It's investigations carried on IN
both the field and laboratory. All that can be
learned out of doors by direct observation ana Oy
study of the available food supply is valuable but
there is surer way of finding cut what bird
eats namely, to look into its stomach. 1t has
been repeatedly demonstrated that the nature OF
the food and feeding habits of birds is SUCH tnat
it is impossible to arrive at definite results by oil
rect observation On the other hand the examlha-
ticn in the laboratory of the contents OF the sto
ach gives information that is definite, exact, and
indisputable
From the percentages and the economic value
of the food items the utility of a bird can be
closely estimated The biological survey is then
able to recommend how it should be treated
In the United States are found more than 800
distinct kinds of birds of 60 families of which 20
families are classed as waterfowl, as shorebirds,
as upland game birds, as birds of prey, and 50
as land BIRDS
The upland game birds comprise such familiar
groups as the quail grouse, ptarmigan wild tur-
keys, wild pigeons and doves The last two, Whlle
usually harmless, sometimes damage crops to an
bioh fhoff he
economically they deserve less consideration than
the turkey quail, and grouse. These three kinds
of birds have feeding habits which are helpful to
agriculture. They may be hunted, but their num-
bers should not be reduced below the normal pop
uation for each type of country
Hawks and OWLS though not closely related,
may be considered together on account of the SIM
iarlty of their feeding habits. Feeding chiefly up
on living animals smaller than themselves, natur-
ally they sometimes prey upon some of the domes-
ticated kinds, particularly poultry. This has given
them bad reputation with farmers, so long estab-
lshed as to amount to traditional prejudice. Sci
entilc investigation of their habits shows that only
few species Of hawks and only one owl feed chief
", or even largely, upon birds and therefore to
any great extent upon poultry. The birds OF prey
regarded as chiefly injurious include the sharp
Skinned Cooper and duck hawks the goshawk, and
the great horned OWL The great horned owl, which,
like most Of its relatives, feeds at night gets only
poultry that is improperly exposed, and when pre-
vented from doing this its habits largely bene-
fetal.
The remaining species of hawks and owls, more
than 500 in all, have useful habits. They feed on
a great variety of rodents and have tremendous
effect in controlling the numbers Of these pests.
Their staple food consists for the most part of
meadow MICE but it includes also many other de-
structive rodents such as rabbits, ground SOUR
rels, prairie dogs, pocket gophers, and house rats
and mice.
The barn owl is one of the most useful of the
birds of this group. It's food is easily studied by
examination of the pellets, made of the hair and
bones of its victims which accumulate about its
reost In 675 barn-owl pellets collected in Wash
4ngton, d. c., were found the remains of 1,119