Are certain birds "pests"? (1 Viewer)

Just to report that Limper did make it to Christmas and visited long enough yesterday to consume a goodly portion of mixed nuts. With the overnight fast thaw, he should have a much improved prospect of seeing in 2011, so I'll keep looking out for him to cater for his needs. 'Tis the Season to be Jolly...

In my opinion, true bird lovers appreciate the beauty of all birds. I love corvids. they are incredibly intelligent and fascinating to watch. Starlings are simply hilarious! they have such character!

some 'birders' think the local magpie is an enemy - because they sometimes raid nests of small birds to eat the eggs or small chicks. this is just surviving. they have chicks to feed in spring too.

true bird lovers don't pick and choose which birds they help survive.

Zoogoer2000 - Packwatcher said:

House sparrows are another problem, but only because they eat all my food in such sheer numbers and are agressive to other birds

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House sparrow numbers have literally halved in recent years. they are listed as endangered species and are on the Red List! :O
They are one of the most important birds to feed at your table. Most birds will be aggressive to other birds if food is anything to do with it haha! take Robins for example, I have seen one mob a squirrel to get to the peanuts.

Watched Halcyon River last night and Charlie and Philippa's reaction to the mink on their river was probably close to my thoughts in respect of birds (and other creatures) as pests.
The mink is devastating water vole populations - probably amongst others - but itself is a wonderful and interesting creature. And it's not the fault of the mink.
As for birds - here in the UK, I think we only have one genuine candidate for a "pest", being the ring-necked parakeets in the south. It would appear they are a serious concern in regard to destroying the fruit crops.
Yet I gloried at my first sighting (of 3) near Eaton Dorney last year.
It's perhaps worse for those who have had introductions of species that actively compete with native species... but I wouldn't shoo a single bird from my garden.
Not the flighty and easily spooked little tits, not the greedy finches, not the doves and pigeons we get (who actually do quite a good job clenaning up the mess!), not the thuggish starlings, not the sparrowhawk who visits most days to see what he can pick up.
(For the record, he usually goes away empty beaked.)

Introduced English Sparrows are pests and are known to kill native baby bluebirds.
The sparrows have not penetrated into my rural area, but are in my father's area. And my father has three very active bluebird nest boxes. Needless to say, he removes any English sparrow found in his yard.

KHamblett said:

Introduced English Sparrows are pests and are known to kill native baby bluebirds.
The sparrows have not penetrated into my rural area, but are in my father's area. And my father has three very active bluebird nest boxes. Needless to say, he removes any English sparrow found in his yard.

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We'd take them back if we could... almost never see spuggies. ||

Amazing isn't it?? The place where the house sparrows come from and they are in decline, yet here where they "displace" native species, they are in abundance. Now, I don't know how long we'll beable to use the term "non-native", because in this age of globalization, just about everything is everywhere, especially trees and plants (not to mention humans). So, now that house sparrows have been here for alomst 160 years, I have the feeling that if they were going to displace anything, it probably would have happened by now. If everyone got amnesia today, we'd forget that someone told us house sparrows are non-native, and they'd be another backyard bird we enjoy. For all we know, house sparrows could have been here already, and the introduced ones were just adding them to the east coast where they presently weren't, similar to house finches. Sure, I find them to be pesky sometimes, but any birds can be pesky in big numbers. For example, in winter, mourning doves swarm my yard in hang around here all day long. I get about 40 of them, and they leave turds in the feeders and bird bath. But, I am a reasonable fella, and keep tossing out food.

Down with the European Starlings, down with the Rock Doves (a.k.a. City Pigeons) and down with the House Sparrows :C!
All very invasive in my part of the world.

Are certain birds pests? Yup but I don't believe I would do anything to upset the karma of the bird life in my patch. I'll deal with the pests and hope for the best

wildlifelove said:

Any bird that feeds on mine i love!

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I agree!

woodpeckerwacko said:

Down with the European Starlings, down with the Rock Doves (a.k.a. City Pigeons) and down with the House Sparrows :C!
All very invasive in my part of the world.

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:O wow.
I just can't dislike any creature. It can't help what it is and what it's not. Human beings are the most invasive species in the world, surely? I mean, the damage we have done to planet Earth is unbelievable. And there are so many of use, we never know- maybe pigeons think of us as pests!

I agree with a lot of the views expressed. It is we humans who are the biggest pests. When we are extinct the flora and fauna that remains will have a much better chance of survival.

"My" colony of house sparrows, which are noisy, naughty (they flutter at the goldfinches and try to dislodge them from the feeders!) and VERY messy on the feeders, spitting bucketloads of precious sunflower hearts on the ground... are a constant delight and never fail to lift my spirits.

Starlings behave like a gang of rowdy teenagers in my garden but I love them and the other birds seem to tolerate them well with a bit of strategic food placing. They're clever and funny and very beautiful.

I don't think of any creature as a pest in my garden any more, even the snails that chomp their way through anything remotely snail-palatable (and several things that shouldn't be!) - more food for thrushes!

My solution to the House Sparrows tossing seed out, is to give them tray feeders. I think they enjoy throwing seed down, so they can eat it from the ground. I don't care much for that especially in winter, because the seed will get buried in the snow and hence wasted. That's why I gave the little fellas their tray feeder.

Joe1980 said:

My solution to the House Sparrows tossing seed out, is to give them tray feeders. I think they enjoy throwing seed down, so they can eat it from the ground. I don't care much for that especially in winter, because the seed will get buried in the snow and hence wasted. That's why I gave the little fellas their tray feeder.

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I used a tray feeder but found that pigeons and doves would mob it and not bother to eat the seeds off the ground. My feeding pole has a distinct list to the right after they spent merry hours swinging on the tray!

I'll sort out a more robust arrangement one day...

There are 3 species that fit this category for me, because they threaten other species. Two are non-native, European Starling and House Sparrow, and one is native, Cowbird. It has been proven over and over again by science that these three species are playing a large role in endangering any number of our smaller indigenous songbirds.
Is it their fault? No, absolutely not! But that doesn't change the fact that if their numbers are not controlled, they will help (us) push a lot of other species into extinction. They are God's creatures, too, but because of the artificial imbalances that we have created, they are out-competing other species, and if left unchecked, will greatly contribute to the loss of other species. Sticking our heads in the sand won't change that.
This past summer I was in Milwaulkee visiting some friends, and I couldn't help but notice that the only birds in their residential neighborhood were Starlings, House Sparrows, and a few Grackles. Is that what we want?
Cowbirds, being a native species are protected by law, and therefore I can't do anything about. Starlings and House Sparrows, being non-native and not protected, I dispatch with regularity. It's not a matter of hating or despising them, simply keeping their numbers down to give our endangered/threatened species a fighting chance.
While it is true that the decline in many species is almost entirely our fault, invasive species are a serious threat that has to be dealt with along with doing everything else we can to bring back our endangered/threatened species. Things like restoring habitat, controlling invasive plant species, etc. are all more desirable ways to help them, but those are things that the average person doesn't give a hoot about.
Hopefully someday thinning the flocks of undesirables will no longer be necessary, but I doubt it will be in my lifetime. People just don't care enough to do what it takes. They only want "feel-good" solutions to everything that don't involve any sacrifice on their own part. It's the dark side of the human condition, and one of the things that has made us so successful as a species;
unadulterated selfishness.
Sorry for the rant,
Brian

Well, 'Limper' made it to 2011. He came today, surveyed the food available, partook of some sponge cake left over from Christmas, and wolfed down several peanuts in their shells, so he's still the champion gulper! I may be mistaken, but his limp didn't seem such an impediment either, so perhaps that's on the mend. He may be 'flying vermin' to many people, and I can understand why this view persists in certain situations, yet I confess looking forward to his irregular visits and a determination to 'see him through' the colder days of December (the first proper 'White Christmas' we've had here for years). The day after Boxing Day brought a widespread thaw, so for birds the living is now much easier...

Nature__lover said:

Human beings are the most invasive species in the world, surely? I mean, the damage we have done to planet Earth is unbelievable.

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Geoff Brown said:

It is we humans who are the biggest pests. When we are extinct the flora and fauna that remains will have a much better chance of survival.

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I agree with you both 100%.

On some birds being pests, I disagree. I welcome ALL birds into my garden.

I grew up in Milwaukee, WI, and I can tell you that if you take away the starlings and house sparrows, all you'd have left is those few grackles. Native birds are LONG gone from the big city, and the stralings and sparrows aren't the ones who pushed them out, they merely moved into the available space. The birds people call pests are a lot of times the only birds people in the big cities have, and without them, they'd have nothing at all. You can kill all the "pest" birds you want, but there will always be real estate available for them, that of course we humans make available. I hold nothing against a person from doing what they feel they gotta do. Personally, as said before, I don't feel that if I put bird feeders out, that I should beable to play God and decide which of his creatures should live and die. The only thing I'll do is discourage certain birds (mourning doves recently) by leaving out the food they like, so they move on. Killing birds because you don't want them in your yard to me is unfair, and not an option for me.

James Bean said:

Well, 'Limper' made it to 2011. He came today, surveyed the food available, partook of some sponge cake left over from Christmas, and wolfed down several peanuts in their shells, so he's still the champion gulper! I may be mistaken, but his limp didn't seem such an impediment either, so perhaps that's on the mend. He may be 'flying vermin' to many people, and I can understand why this view persists in certain situations, yet I confess looking forward to his irregular visits and a determination to 'see him through' the colder days of December (the first proper 'White Christmas' we've had here for years). The day after Boxing Day brought a widespread thaw, so for birds the living is now much easier...

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Well done James, I've been following the fortunes of Limper, and I'm glad he's made it! Maybe he should have his own thread... :t: