[mou] bird miscellany

[Jim Williams]

Interesting bird miscellany.
Happy New Year.
Jim Williams

Begin forwarded message:

From: "William Mueller" <iltlawas@earthlink.net>
Date: December 31, 2006 5:56:29 PM CST
To: "Wisconsin Birding Network" <wisbirdn@lawrence.edu>
Subject: [wisb] Declines and Increases - birds we share with the UK  
(and some we don't)

Declines and Increases

Have you had trouble finding Gray Partridge in WI? No wonder; it  
continues
to decline here (see the BBS graph for the Great Lakes Plain:
   
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/plotpgm0.pl?/sula/jrs/bbs05/ 
htmind/028
81.s16  ) as it does in the UK. The decline there is very severe. See:
http://www.bto.org/birdtrends2005/wcrgrepa.htm

Another species we share with the UK, Barn Owl, is of course very rare  
here
in Wisconsin. It's declining, and on the endangered or threatened list  
in
approx 15 midcontinent states, but holding its own to some extent in  
some
places like TX, parts of CA, and the Central BBS Area. But it's  
declining
in the UK as well:
http://www.bto.org/birdtrends2005/wcrbarow.htm   This is THE most
widespread bird species on the planet, with ~ 35 subspecies, found on  
all
continents except Antartica. Loss of grasslands and pastures,
vehicle-caused mortality and other problems continue to be worrisome for
this species' continued existence.

Here, few would vote to "save" the House Sparrow. But in the UK, where  
it
is native, it's a different story:
http://www.bto.org/birdtrends2005/wcrhousp.htm

But there's some good news, too, for some species in Great Britain:

The Nuthatch (not the same species as either our northern North American
species) is increasing:
http://www.bto.org/birdtrends2005/wcrnutha.htm

Their Robin shows an increase:
http://www.bto.org/birdtrends2005/wcrrobin.htm

Here's the picture for the Wren (same as our Winter Wren):
http://www.bto.org/birdtrends2005/wcrwren.htm

And last, but not least, good news for the Sparrowhawk (like our
Sharp-shinned Hawk):
http://www.bto.org/birdtrends2005/wcrsparr.htm



William P. Mueller
Milwaukee, WI
(414) 643-7279
E-mail: iltlawas@earthlink.net
On the web: http://home.earthlink.net/~iltlawas/index.html


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