[obol] Escaped birds

[Jeff Gilligan]

Well..I am not lacking for opinions, so here goes:


On 2/4/07 12:28 PM, "Lars and Gail Norgren" <gnorgren at earthlink.net> wrote:

>       The Trumpeter Swans at Malheur were
> (re?)introduced. Of course that was decades
> ago so everyone counts them. What about
> novel populations of Whooping Crane. When do
> they start counting? After the first egg
> hatches in the wild? I don't think I would
> derive a lot of satisfaction from such a bird.

(In regard to the Whooping Crane scenario:  No we shouldn't accept such
birds as wild unless the novel population proves to be self-sustaining
(successfully introduced) - like California Quail in much of Oregon.  For
those who aren't familiar with this, California Quail are known to have been
native in Oregon only in the southwestern and south-central counties.)

> 
>      In the case of the Red-breasted Goose, we
> have a well documented history of a nearby captive
> flock and the math adds up. It was none-the-less
> a thrill for me to pull it out of a flock of several
> thousand Cacklers. Things don't have to count to
> be fun.


(I agree that the birds seen in Oregon are likely escapees.  What though if
there are a few records from Alaska and then one arrives with Brant at a
coastal estuary, as they do in Holland and Britain occasionally?  For now I
think that the assumption is that the Oregon birds are not countable, and
that has been the opinion of the OBRC.)


>       As for Alan's Barnacle Goose, John Adair raised
> them for decades on South 53rd Street. 25 years ago
> they may still have been a going thing. The ponds are
> dry now. I'll give him a ring to find out just when
> he quit keeping such pets. His son was my best friend
> and I spent a great deal of time around there at one
> point. John Sr provided Peter Scott of the Wildfowl Trust
> in Slimbridge England with the original Black Brant
> in the collection.   Lars Norgren

(I agree that the Barnacle Geese have likely been escapees.  At least we
would need a pattern relative to Oregon before that presumption should be
overturned.)


Jeff Gilligan


> On Feb 4, 2007, at 11:48 AM, Alan Contreras wrote:
> 
>> Good thoughts.  I did mean Trumpeter Swan; there is some discussion
>> about
>> how many of the birds wandering around the upper Midwest are
>> "countable"
>> based on the usual factors.
>> 
>> -- 
>> Alan Contreras
>> EUGENE, OREGON
>> acontrer at mindspring.com
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> From: Jeff Gilligan <jeffgill at teleport.com>
>>> Date: Sun, 04 Feb 2007 11:23:36 -0800
>>> To: Alan Contreras <acontrer at MINDSPRING.COM>, obol
>>> <obol at lists.oregonstate.edu>
>>> Cc: "SGMlod at aol.com" <SGMlod at aol.com>
>>> Subject: Re: [obol] Escaped birds
>>> 
>>> Alan:  This is the position that I would advocate at the OBRC in
>>> regard to
>>> the issues that you raised.  My comments are interspersed with yours.
>>>  Jeff.
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> obol mailing list
>> obol at lists.oregonstate.edu
>> http://lists.oregonstate.edu/mailman/listinfo/obol
>> 
>> To unsubscribe, send a message to:
>> obol-leave at lists.oregonstate.edu.
>> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> obol mailing list
> obol at lists.oregonstate.edu
> http://lists.oregonstate.edu/mailman/listinfo/obol
> 
> To unsubscribe, send a message to:
> obol-leave at lists.oregonstate.edu.