Blackbirds

[enlace al artículo, acceso abierto: https://www.scielo.br/j/hcsm/a/zbRJdZGZ97R7PmVKgK6psCf/?lang=es]

Igual que es posible trazar una historia de los cantos de las aves, de su recepción por y su relación con los seres humanos, también se puede especular sobre si esos cantos pueden funcionar como historia, viva, sonora, en qué grado y modos, así como en qué diferiría esa historia aviar de la humana o si podría enriquecerla. Muchas aves, después de todo, transmiten y aprenden sus cantos unas de otras, construyen sobre ellos y los complican, recogiendo otros sonidos que asumen e incorporan, sonidos humanos incluidos. Crean así paisajes sonoros que no siempre quedan de fondo: en ocasiones, reclaman su relevancia y toman el primer plano, en la historia y como historia.

cantos de las aves; primavera sonora; Streptopelia decaocto; Parus major; Turdus merula

Just as it is possible to trace a history of the songs of birds, of their reception by human beings, and of how humans relate to them, it is also possible to speculate on whether these songs can function as history, a living, resounding history, to which degree and in which ways. As well as on how that avian story would differ from the human one, or if it could enrich it. Many birds, after all, learn their songs from each other, they build on and complicate them, picking up other sounds they incorporate, human sounds included. Thus, they create soundscapes that are not always in the background: sometimes, they claim their relevance and take the foreground, in history and as history.

birdsong; resounding spring; Streptopelia decaocto; Parus major; Turdus merula

Io sono un appassionato di caccia con il chioccolo ed è da diversi anni che sto conducendo una ricerca su questa caccia e sui richiami ad essa dedicati .Su questo argomento ho già pubblicato nel 2012 un mio testo Dal titolo U và cun a ciocciua (la caccia con il chioccolo) dedicato alla costruzione dei richiami e al loro uso, oggi sto lavorando ad un altro testo sulla storia dei richiami e delle loro terminologie. In questo mio contributo intitolato Il chioccolo e il chioccolatore cerco di spiegare il significato di questi due termini perché ho rilevato nella mia ricerca molte storture nell’utilizzo e nell’attribuzione di significati non proprio consoni ai termini citati.
Articolo modificato e aggiornato al novembre 2019 rispetto alla versione uscita in edicola in Diana n.12 del 28 giugno 2017 anno CXI n.2301
Marco Stagnaro (Mirko)
Toma54@hotmail.it
https://chioccoloecaccia.wordpress.com/

Since 1986, nonlethal management techniques have been used by the North Dakota and South Dakota Animal Damage Control programs to reduce blackbird damage to sunflower. The use of
propane cannons, pyrotechnics, hazing, and cattail management is discussed. Currently, the primary program for both States is cattail management.

Blackbird (Icterinae) damage to sunflowers in the northern Great Plains can be locally severe. One approach to alleviating depredation pressure is to reduce blackbird populations through application of brown rice bait treated with the avicide DRC-1339. Because such baiting can potentially affect nontarget species, we
conducted pen and field trials to evaluate the potential risk from avicide baiting to ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus). Although most female pheasants in pen tests preferred cracked corn and sorghum, 2 of 12 birds preferred brown rice. In 4-day trials within a 0.2-ha flight pen, pheasant consumption of brown rice from bait swaths simulating field bait applications was not affected by the presence of an alternate bait swath of cracked corn. Pen trials to evaluate possible avoidance responses following a sublethal dose of DRC-1339 showed that 2 of 7 birds shifted from their previously preferred feeding sites following exposure to the avicide. During March and April 1995, we recorded pheasant numbers in 6 pairs of 0.8-ha plots in corn stubble fields that were either baited with brown rice or were designated as reference plots. Overall, use of test plots was
low, but at the most heavily used sites, pheasants visited reference plots more than baited plots (P = 0.004). We conclude that (1) pheasants will eat brown rice treated with DRC-1339; and (2) although chances of exposure to an acute lethal dose can be reduced by increasing the dilution, harmful repeated doses could be obtained because avoidance of feeding sites, following sublethal exposure, cannot be assumed.

Skeletal remains are commonly recovered from archaeological deposits, both historic and prehistoric. Zooarchaeology, the study of animal bones from archaeological sites, sheds light not only on human use of wildlife but on its past distribution and abundance, a perspective that complements and extends the historical record. For this study, we reviewed previously published zooarchaeological records and identified avifaunal remains recovered from five archaeological sites throughout San Diego County, California, representing periods of human occupation from 10,000 years before present to the mid-19th century. These  remains reflect many notable avifaunal changes from this region. Bones of the flightless sea duck Chendytes lawi from ≥15 coastal sites attest to human exploitation of this species for ≥8000 years before it was driven to extinction ~2400 years ago. Bones of the Short-tailed Albatross (Phoebastria albatrus) and at least one of the two smaller North Pacific albatrosses (P. nigripes and P. immutabilis) from numerous sites confirm they once occurred along the California coast in greater numbers and suggest that the Short-tailed Albatross may have nested on San Nicolas
Island. At Carrizo Marsh in the Anza-Borrego Desert, excavation of the Carrizo Stage Stop, used in the late 1850s, yielded multiple bones of both sexes of the Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus), implying existence of a former colony where none had been recorded since at least the 1960s, confirming a wetland more substantial than today’s small remnant. This site also produced remains of at least 12 species of ducks and geese. Remains of the American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) from the San Diego Presidio, occupied in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, indicate that this species had occurred in an area where it was absent from the historical record from the 1870s until the 1980s. The perspective these specimens contribute to our understanding of avian distributions argues for the importance of
collecting and studying faunal remains from archaeological sites. In some areas, this resource remains underused, and the current regulations and infrastructure for preserving and curating the specimens are inadequate.

We aerially marked red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) roosting in cattail (Typha spp.) marshes in North Dakota to determine population turnover rates, size, and movements. We estimate that 250,700 red-winged blackbirds used four roosts marked in 1986. Daily turnover rates averaged 9.9% (SE = 2.4) in these roosts. Four roosts marked in 1988 harbored 91,900 blackbirds. These roosts exhibited high turnover rates, averaging 16.7% (SE = 4.8) per day throughout the study period. Marked birds were recovered a median distance of 10.0 km (range = l .7 - 54.3) from their roost. Numbers and turnover rates of birds using a given late summer roost may be dependent on ecological factors such as the quality of roosting habitat (e g., marsh size, density and areal coverage of cattails, water depth), and location and maturity of sunflower fields.

Introduction. Helminths of birds remain poorly studied in the Central-Chernozem region and in the Central-Chernozem State Nature biosphere reserve named after V.V. Alyokhin (Kursk oblast) they are not studied at all. Therefore the study of helminths of birds which died from different natural causes was set up in the Central-Chernozem reserve. Material and methods. Totally were collected 17 carcasses of 3 species of thrushes: 6 of blackbird (T. merula), 6 of song thrush (T. philomelos) and 5 of fieldfare (T. pilaris) from 2012 to 2016. Results and discussion. Totally was found 11 species of helminths from 2 phyla: Platyhelminthes with 1 species of trematodes – Lutztrema attenuatum and 2 species of cestodes: Dilepis indula, Passerilepis crenata and Nematoda with 3 species of Dorylaimia: Pterothominx exilis, Eucoleus contortus, Capillariidae gen. sp. and 5 species of Chromadoria: Syngamus merulae, Dispharynx nasuta, Spiruridae gen. sp.1, Spiruridae gen. sp.2, Porrocaecum ensicaudatum. The highest total helminth species richness in fieldfare (9 species), lower in blackbird (5) and song thrush (6). The highest helminth species richness of infracommunities in fieldfare (mean – 3,2, max – 6), lower in blackbird (mean –2, max – 4) and song thrush (mean – 1,6, max – 5). The most prevalent species are D. undula (11 from 14 infected), P. ensicaudatum (8 from 14 infected), D. nasuta (5 from 14 infected). However, because of the used method sample is too small for making any conclusions and further research and prolongation of collecting of birds is needed to shed light on infection patterns in the helminth communities of these species of thrushes. [authors translation]

© April 2002, Department of Conservation. This paper may be cited as: Bennett, SJ; Standish, RJ; Stringer, IAN 2002: Effects of rodent poisoning on Powelliphanta traversi. Science for Conservation 195C. 16 p. ... Shaun J. Bennett, Rachel J. Standish* and Ian AN Stringer

We conducted studies from 1994 to 1999 in eastern South Dakota to determine the best strategy for baiting spring-migrating blackbirds. From 26 March to 14 April, male and female red-winged blackbirds made-up 61 % and 17% of the roost population,
respectively. After the 14th of April, the population consisted of 32% male and 49% female red-winged blackbirds. Blackbird migration in eastern South Dakota generally ended by late April. Habitat use studies conducted in March and April 1994, 1995, and 1998 showed that blackbirds used com stubble for foraging and woodlots/shelterbelts for loafing. We concluded that bait plots located in com stubble adjacent to wooded areas could attract large numbers of red-winged blackbirds during spring migration.

Since the mid-1970s many new and modified damage abatement methods have been implemented to reduce blackbird damage to ripening sunflower in the northern Great Plains. Concurrently, estimates were made of breeding blackbird densities and sunflower damage to track changes in population size and chart progress toward reducing damage. Breeding density estimates were made at both the regional and county levels, whereas sunflower damage estimates were made at the county level only. Periodic regional estimates of breeding densities, between 1967 and 1998, showed that numbers of red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) and yellow-headed blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) did not differ among years,
while common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) numbers tended to increase. To improve our ability to detect changes in breeding
density, we started intensive county-level surveys in 1996. These surveys, conducted in 4 counties in North Dakota and South
Dakota, showed that blackbird densities differed among years from 1996 to 1999. We surveyed sunflower damage in 2 of these
4 counties from 1994 to 1998 and found no difference in damage (x = 1.8%) among years. In 1997 and 1998, with an additional
2 counties added to the survey, we again found that damage was similar between years, averaging 2.2%. Overall, breeding
blackbird densities have increased in recent years, but dollar loss per hectare trended lower in three of the study counties that
had historical databases for comparison. We will continue to use annual estimates of breeding densities and sunflower damage to
assess the effects of an evolving integrated pest management program.

The effects of herbicide-induced changes in wetland emergent vegetation on densities of territorial male Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus), Yellow-headed Blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus), am! Marsh Wrens (Cistothorus palustris) were assessed in northeastern North Dakota. In 1990 and 1991, 23 cattail-dominated wetlands were randomly assigned to 0% (reference wetlands), 50%, 70%, or 90% areal spray coverages with glyphosate herbicide. Two years post-treatment, densities of redwings were higher in the reference wetlands (x = 1.59 0.24 [SE]/ha) than in the 90% treated wetlands (x 055
± 0.14/ha, P 0.(163). Yellowheads were more abundant in reference wetlands (x 3.80 ± 0.83/ha) than in treated wetlands (x 2.05 ± 0.40/ha. P 0.061). Likewise, wrens were more abundant in reference wetlands (x 2.21 ± 0.27 /ha) than in treated wetlands (x
0.66 0.13/ha, P 0.001). Percent coverage of live emergent vegetation (largely cattails, Typha spp.) was positively correlated with blackbird and wren numbers (P 0.1 ). Results of this study suggest that numbers of these three wetland-dwelling species were limited by altering cattail density. Staggering vegctation management treatments on large wetland complexes
may help diversity the stages of cattail regeneration and provide heterogenous nesting and foraging habitat for these birds.

We offered sunflower meats, cracked corn and brown rice to individuals and small groups (n = 4-5) of red-winged blackbirds (Ageluiusphoeniceus), yellow-headed blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) and common grackles (Quiscafus quiscula) to determine their food preference. Common grackles (sexes
combined) preferred cracked corn over sunflower meats and brown rice. Male and female yellow-headed blackbirds preferred brown rice or a combination of brown rice and cracked corn or sunflower meats. Female red-winged blackbirds chose brown rice; whereas, male red-winged blackbirds did not show a consistent food preference. Either brown rice or a brown rice and cracked corn combination should be used to bait blackbirds.

From 2 to16 April 1993, we conducted road-side surveys of birds using harvested fields of small grains, soybeans, and corn within 8 km of two blackbird roosts in east central South Dakota. Blackbirds, waterfowl, killdeer, homed larks, ring-necked pheasants, and western meadowlarks were the most common birds recorded. The frequencies of blackbirds, non game birds, terrestrial game birds, and waterfowl was not equally distributed within the three habitats (P = 0.023).