Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!watmath!att!chinet!arf
From: arf@chinet.chi.il.us (Jack Schmidling)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: range expansions
Summary: definitely a pest in Chicago
Keywords: birding, bird-watching
Message-ID: <9130@chinet.chi.il.us>
Date: 1 Aug 89 22:33:32 GMT
References: <8863@cs.Buffalo.EDU> <390@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU> <26659@srcsip.UUCP>
Organization: Chinet - Chicago, Ill.
Lines: 42


ahouse/e5 
 
Article 1195 (1 more) in rec.birds: 
From: whillock@europa.SRC.Honeywell.COM (Rand Whillock) 
Subject: Re: range expansions 
 
>With reguard to range expansion, the house finch seems to  
be expanding its range very quickly. 
 
  
>Email me information about the house finch's status in your  
area and I will tabulate and 
post the responses.  
 
Schmidling says: 
 
Definitely a pest in Chicago.  Several years ago while  
shooting  "BACKYARD SAFARI", I almost had a heart attack  
when two sat on a thistle seed feeder while I was filming.   
They were incorrectly identified as purple finches at the  
time but were welcomed with gusto. 
 
As a nuisance, I would class them right up with sparrows and  
they are much more aggressive.  The two developed into a  
flock of around (20).  Many have gone through cycles of  
gross feather/skin disease which at first I thought was  
moulting.  But it was too persistant. Some of them would be  
bald for months.  There also was an unusual number with  
malformed feet. 
 
We now have them under control with the "Frog-in-a-Box".   
This is being posted here in serial form under" Aliens at  
the Feeder, The Final Solution". 
        ................... 
 
I hope you don't mind my ignoring your email instructions  
but you turned my crank and you sound like the type who  
reads here regularly. 
 
Jack Schmidling (arf)