Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!mcnc!rti!bdrc!pdh
From: pdh@bdrc.UUCP (Perry D. Haaland)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: range expansions
Keywords: birding, bird-watching
Message-ID: <423@bdrc.UUCP>
Date: 4 Aug 89 14:08:45 GMT
References: <8863@cs.Buffalo.EDU> <390@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU> <8903@cs.Buffalo.EDU> <30845@ism780c.isc.com>
Reply-To: pdh@bdrc.UUCP (Perry D. Haaland)
Organization: Becton Dickinson Rsrch Cntr, RTP, NC
Lines: 32

In article <30845@ism780c.isc.com> marv@ism780.UUCP (Marvin Rubenstein) writes:
>In article <8903@cs.Buffalo.EDU> dmark@sunybcs.UUCP (David Mark) writes:
>>One of the most spectaculcr bird range expansions in recent years (except
>>for the introduced Starling in North America) was the spread of the
>>Collared Dove across Europe.  Well, the species is now well-established
>>in Florida (escapes, or trans-Atlantic dispersal?), and they should be
>>appearing at *YOUR* feeder before long!
>
>Cattle egrets are now fairly common in Imperial And San Diego counties of
>of California.  I heard that they crossed over from Africa on their own.
>
Cattle egrets are very common in the Hawaiian Islands. Especially in Kauai
which we recently visited. They were introduced in the 50's to control
insects. Now their great numbers are causing concern because they 
preying on nestlings of the few remaining native ground nesting birds.

Introduced birds are in general a problem in the islands. For example, if
you see a bulbul of any kind on Kauai and call the department of natural
resources, they immediately send someone out with a gun. This vigilance
is prompted by agricultural interests not by concern over native birds.

Sadly, native birds have all but disappeared except for pelagic birds and
birds of the high forests (above 2000'). We even saw northern cardinals in 
so called wilderness areas along the Na Pali coast. Indian Mynah birds
(the Asian version of starlings) are incredibly abundant. On the other
hand, birding on the island of Oahu is quite interesting because of
all the really exotic looking escaped cage birds. Still, it's not really
a good trade-off.


-- 
  Perry Haaland - mcnc!bdrc!pdh