SENSE AND SENTIMENT.

Forest and Bird, Issue 18, 1 August 1929, Page 2

SENSE AND SENTIMENT.

(Extract from The Practical Value of Birds, Junius Henderson.)

Species of birds which, in one locality or under certain conditions, are quite useful, may in another locality or under other conditions become either neutral or actually harmful. Within reasonable limits the food they take at a given time or place depends upon what is available in sufficient quantity and easily accessible. This is an important factor in the usefulness, of birds. It enables them to live through periods of shortage in their natural food and to be ready in time of great abundance of agricultural pests to turn their attention to such pests and aid in their control.

The Starling appeared to be a quite useful bird in England before it became over-abundant, but by 1919 it had become a ‘serious menace to the production of home-grown food.” It is not uncommon for a few individuals belonging to a usually useful species to develop bad habits, especially when their natural food is scarce. That may afford a perfectly good reason for summarily disposing of the vicious individuals, but not for wholesale slaughter of the species. When some human beings indulge in criminal acts we do not imprison or hang the whole human race. When any species of birds appears in such numbers, or under such circumstances, or changes its habits in such a way, as to do great harm, it is entirely justifiable to adopt any necessary measures to reduce its numbers, just as we do with destructive insects and rodents, though wholesale slaughter should be indulged in only after careful and thorough investigation and in extreme cases. On the other hand, it would be well to remember always that if a Robin picks a few cherries during the fruit season, he is only collecting his pay for considerable good he has done during the other months of the year. If a Blackbird gets a little corn, he may have earned it by the desti uction of insects which would otherwise have done more injury to the crop than the birds do. If we fail to pay the birds their fair wages for the police work in which they are engaged throughout the year, we may be heavy losers in the end. If we are to accept their services in our behalf, good sense and good sportsmanship demands that we be not too severe upon them when they indulge in a little mischief. Many species of birds that are sometimes locally more or less harmful, during most of the time are more or less useful, and by their occurrence in large numbers when insects or other farm, 01 chard oi forest pests are overabundant, often save crops and trees from ruin.

One trouble is that man has introduced entirely new elements into Nature, on a vast scale, and Nature, in its naturally slow method of development, has not yet caught up with changing conditions. Under natural conditions there were no vast fields of corn, wheat, beans, cabbages, potatoes, and other products of the modern farm, no great orchards and vineyards, to afford hiding places, breeding places, and abundant food for myriads of insects and multitudes of rodents. If there were enough strictly insectivorous birds to suppress all insects during the season when insects are available, they would starve to death during the other months of the year (unless they could turn to other kinds of food), and then there would be no insectivorous birds to fight insects during the following seasons. Perhaps in the course of time Nature may be able to effect a complete readjustment, but if so, it will doubtless be in the quite distant future. Meantime our present need calls for the largest possible degree of wisdom and discretion, coupled with accurate and adequate information and complete freedom from prejudice either for or against the birds, in order that, as each problem arises, we may meet it fairly and reach conclusions that will not result in disaster.

“Natural enemies of birds are necessary and desirable, as they tend to maintain within proper bounds the number of species on which they prey; organised attempts to increase the number of birds over large areas by destroying indiscriminately all natural enemies are undesirable; under certain circumstances enemies which have been able to adapt themselves to man and his works and have become unduly numerous may require reduction in numbers individuals of useful species which may become particularly destructive should be eliminated.” —