[obol] Chukar numbers down

[Larry Cottrell]

Quote-"This is a species that seems to spring back over time and will again providing there are no more long wet springs. Wet weather hammers the chicks and these birds do not double clutch once the first brood has hatched and are lost. I guess I am much more worried about our native birds and their population issues.
Later Mike"  Unquote

I believe that more than wet weather caused the problems, since we (Burns Jct. Malheuer Co) had almost no rain at all from Jan of last year until almost September. We had one small snow and the precip ( by my count) was less than two inches through that period. The Chukar, Quail, Sage Grouse, and both Jack Rabbits and Cotton tails are almost non existent. It was so dry here that even the Cheat grass didn't grow. The rabbits of course could be blamed on the cyclic crash that they are subject to, but I am sure that West Nile played a large part on all the species, whether the crash was caused by other problems, West Nile played a major role. The good news is that even if it was indeed caused by West Nile, they will rebound. I believe that Wyoming and Montana had a serious crash caused by WN on the Sage Grouse and their numbers are back. Just takes time.
Larry (worried about all wildlife.) Cottrell

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.oregonstate.edu/mailman/private/obol/attachments/20071111/532b13db/attachment.htm