Hi,

Andy rehashes excellent points which have been discussed on multiple
occasions in the forum over the years.  We humans have a very limited
temporal perspective as we think in decades rather than centuries. While it
is hard to believe, we really don't have enough data to really understand
the fluctuations in population and range of many species.  Certainly when
there is a strong assignable cause, like the pesticide DDT, we can see the
changes during the course of our lifetimes, but otherwise it can be very
difficult to separate normal random variation from variation due to some
special cause that is outside the natural system.

It is interesting to look at historic literature and speculate.  For
instance in his original Birds of the Cleveland Region, A.B. Williams,
called Piliated Woodpecker rare.  Today that species is abundant in the
region.  What changed in the course of 70 years?  While there has been a
great deal of re forestation there has also been fragmentation with sub
urban sprawl  There were also thousands of acres which were never cut in
the first place.  Is the current abundance of Piliateds due to habitat or
habituation? Or perhaps because we no longer are constantly gunning for
them?  Keep in mind how many birds were hunted nearly to the brink in the
19th and early 20th century.  Crows in particular were considered pests and
often shot on sight by farmers.  This was often done with a rifle at long
range and special rounds were developed for "varmint" hunting.

It is fortunate for the birds, and birders, that we humans no longer
constantly gun for them, and there certainly are species which are highly
dependent upon specific habitats.  However, taking the long term
perspective the tired argument of birders loving the birds too much, having
any overall effect on a population is simply nonsense.  Be it at Metzger
Marsh, or in University Heights, unless we start taking very active
measures, like cutting forage cover, or cutting down the nest tree, or
gunning for these birds, our presence as birders and birdwatchers makes no
difference whatsoever.

Haans Petruschke
Kirtland

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