In case some of you haven't
http://ohioperegrinefalcons.blogspot.com/
In case some of you haven't seen this blog- a non-bird nerd showed it to me.
Very interesting and quite the "reality show".
- Liz Marchio
Easy ways to make a change:
Burn fat not oil- ride a bike.
Cloth bags for produce.
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From: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Mon, July 12, 2010 4:23:44 PM
Subject: [Ohio-birds] The utility of house sparrows (long)
From time to time someone on this list wonders about the possible benefits of
house sparrows. Craig Moore's post about a female eating a Japanese beetle is
the latest such inquiry.
I'm pretty sure there have been more recent scholarly studies, but the United
States government, which is to say the Department of Agriculture, pondered this
issue a century ago, indeed well over a century ago, as the infestation of this
particular successful and vicious descendant of the dinosaurs had spread across
the continent.
When Jane and I moved into our rural property, a decade ago this month, I found
a few items of interest among the unsold boxes of junk left over from the
previously held estate sale. One such article was Farmers' Bulletin 493 of the
United States Dept. of Agriculture, titled "The English Sparrow As A Pest." It
was originally released April 20, 1912 (under the Taft administration) and
revised 1917 (under the Wilson administration.) It may amuse or appall readers
of this list to learn that the USDA advocated the mass eradication or trapping
of house sparrows, and their use as a human food. If these ideas offend you,
consider yourself forewarned, and please read no further.
Personally, I find this bulletin to be a fascinating glimpse into attitudes of a
century ago. Although the editorial slant of the work is set forth in the title,
it is not mere slander, but is supported by some earlier scientific research,
which it cites. The folly of species "introduction" into new territory is
evident. This bird has been a problem for a long time.
The introduction sets the tone for the 23-page booklet, and addresses the issue
of the house sparrow's occasional usefulness as a destroyer of harmful insects.
"An ill-advised endeavor, about the middle of the nineteenth century, to
populate a few city parks with nonmigratory birds resulted favorably as an
enterprise but very unfortunately for the general welfare of this country. Among
several kinds of European birds introduced, one was the house sparrow, commonly
called the English sparrow. From a few centers this bird has spread in vast
numbers from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the Gulf of Mexico well into
Canada.
The English sparrow defiles private and public property, fights and
dispossesses useful native birds, replaces their songs with discordant sounds,
and destroys fruit, grain, and garden truck.
At first it was confined to towns, but its rapid multiplication has
caused it to push out into farming communities, and thus to extend its
pernicious activities. The fact that in isolated cases this bird has been found
doing useful work against insects barely saves it from utter condemnation.
The methods of ridding premises of English sparrows advocated in this
bulletin have been used with success and can be relied upon if followed
carefully and persistently. No one should undertake to kill these birds,
however, unless able to distinguish them from native sparrows with absolute
certainty. Otherwise some of the most valued songsters surely will be
destroyed."
-
Page 4 addresses the consumption of insects directly, and refers to page 143 of
an earlier "exhaustive account" released by the Division of Economic Ornithology
and Mammalogy of the USDA in 1889 (under the B. Harrison administration, the
work presumably having been prepared under the first Cleveland administration),
a work which I have not read. The earlier work was important enough to have been
Bulletin No. 1 of that USDA Division.
"Under normal conditions its choice of insects is often unfavorable. Out of 522
English sparrow stomachs examined by the Biological Survey, 47 contained noxious
insects, 50 held beneficial insects, and 31 contained insects of little or no
importance. In the report on the investigation it is shown that, aside from the
destruction of weed seed, there is, in general, very little to be said in the
sparrow’s favor."
-
After making its case against Passer domesticus, the bulletin illustrates the
plans for several types of traps, and to advocate, on pages 21 and 22, the use
of "English Sparrows As Food."
"In most localities in the United States English sparrows are a pest. There is
therefore no reason why the birds should not be utilized for food in this
country, as they have been in the Old World for centuries. Their flesh is
palatable, and though their bodies are small, their numbers fully compensate for
their lack of size. Birds that have been trapped may be kept alive in large
outdoor cages, sheltered from storms and cold winds, until they are wanted for
the table. It is unprofitable to keep them for long, however, as the quantity of
grain or other food they require daily amounts to more than half their own
weight. A variety of food is necessary to keep them in good condition. Bread,
oats, wheat, bran and corn-meal mash, lettuce cabbage, and tender shoots of
sprouting grain are some of the things they relish. A supply of clean water is
essential."
A section on the dressing of the birds is followed with:
"Sparrows may be cooked by any of the methods employed for reedbirds or quail.
When boned, broiled, buttered, and served on toast they are particularly good
and compare favorably with the best kinds of small game."
Yum!
I have heard of reports that this species may finally be on the decline in North
America, however that is not the case on my farm where they infest the eaves and
corners of the horse barn, and far too often kill nesting bluebirds.
Bob Evans
Geologist, Historian, Curator, Farmer, etc.
Hopewell Township, Muskingum County
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______________________________________________________________________
Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.
You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]
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