Bird deaths by human agency

What he said.

Going to have to add this to my favorite quotes.

 

They aren't as easy to control as dogs and raptors.

Many cat species have a social structure similar to lions', just much more spread out. Females will have their own territory, with an alpha male's encompassing that of several females.

Lynx? But I think they won't like the noise of an airport.

Bird feeders might also support a population larger than the local resources.

Cats are only part of the problem facing native song birds. They are also facing heavy competition from aliens; starlings and house sparrows.

 

A bird died at my house last night. Gallus gallus. A chicken. My wife and I have raised and kept backyard chickens for a few years now. We recently bought some hatchlings to rejuvenate our flock, but one didn't make it. Happens from time to time. I haven't been home in a couple of weeks so I didn't even get a chance to meet them yet.

 

I have cats too, and i manage the cross-species introductions such that they don't become predator/prey relationships.

Remarkable how well they get along, and the scorecard shows that the chickens are almost as good at catching mice as the cats.

 

"Fast forward to today: 7 million turkeys trot, cluck and scratch around North America, occupying almost all suitable habitat and even expanding beyond their original range." [emphasis added]

I've seen the above emphasized item presented as a criticism of turkey reintroductions, supposedly catering more to hunters than to real habitat and natural wildlife restoration efforts. Not sure what to make of that view.

I encountered my very first wild turkey twenty years ago, on the family farm that I moved to more than fifty years ago. It was an initially shocking encounter, as the turkey exploded unannounced out of its perch into flight, far louder than the otherwise similar sudden takeoffs of ruffed grouse. Now, it is normal to see 10 to 50 at once out in the fields, or sometimes in the house yard as they walk uphill to roost overnight in the timber above. Mostly separate from the cattle, but a few among the cattle too, foraging for uneaten scraps of grain hay or undigested seeds in manure. And leaving their own smaller calling cards.

Last month was obviously courting season, with numerous males strutting and fanning their tails while the hens appeared to mostly be feeding and ignoring them.

 

Possibly the hunting mode is throwing you? I don't hunt, but according to my cousin most turkey hunters are archers while most deer hunters use rifles.

 

Cats and buildings regularly make the top two on lists of top bird killers that I've seen. Putting the birds killed by turbines in context with all human sources of bird killings is a good counter to "turbines kill birds, ban turbines".

Its the same type of argument that says EVs are too dangerous because they read about a Tesla battery catching fire. Its almost too easy to point out that they regularly drive on top of a container of flammable liquid that cause more car-fire related fatalities per year than have ever occurred for EVs since forever.

 

Unconvincing...but I am not defending cats as they do kill too many birds, and I know birds can flock by the hundreds into a building to their death.

 

You're looking for the local apex predator (light weight) to verify that there are still enough other things to feed it? Just trying to make sure I understand your test.