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While looking for more information about Redwings, this sentence struck me
particularly :
"Redwing are among the least robust of thrushes and vulnerable to
mass mortality when overcome by cold spells. If no berries remain, having
been stripped earlier by blackbirds and mistle thrushes, they perish."
from http://www.birdsofbritain.co.uk/bird-guide/redwing.htm
Another site says that "They feed on invertebrates and form flocks
with Fieldfares in the winter. If it freezes they often invade gardens to
feed on berries and fruit. They are very frustrating birds as they are at
the bottom of the thrush pecking order and refuse any sort of artificial
food - it must be fruit! In really cold weather if you are unable to feed
fruit they simply starve." http://www.birdcare.com/bin/showsketch?redwing
The various sites mention that they do eat the fruits of
ornamental exotics, including pyracantha berries, holly berries,
cotoneaster, etc. They also eat apples. Perhaps this should be kept in
mind once the berries on the holly bush at the Redwing's present location
are all gone. I have noticed lately that most of the Canada Holly and
Mountain Ash berry crops in my locale, at least, have been eaten.
There is a very interesting report of the finding of a Redwing in
New Brunswick in 2001. The report of its sighting sets a remarkably high
standard! see http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/maryspt/observ/redwing.html
Patricia L. Chalmers
Halifax
At 08:28 AM 06/12/2006 -0400, Eric Mills wrote:
> After reading some recent accounts of observations of the Redwing
> in Brooklyn, I would like
>to ask birders who go to look for it to give the bird some space. Waiting
>for it to appear, even
>if that takes some time waiting at a distance, is preferable to disturbing
>it and running the risk
>that it will move on, or worse, fall prey to a predator or stress during
>cold weather.
> Eric
At 08:41 AM 07/12/2006 -0400, Eric Mills wrote:
> This bird is a vagrant, way out of its normal range. It is
>subject to stress due to lack of food, inclement weather, predators,
>and disturbance. The American Birding Association has a code of
>ethics for these situations, part of which says, "to avoid stressing
>birds or exposing them to danger, exercise restraint and caution
>during observation..." Under no circumstances should birders
>attempt to flush the bird from shelter. Patience and good birding
>skills will pay off, as they have for many already.
>
> I'm concerned about all of this, because the Nova Scotian
>birding community could end up looking pretty bad if continued
>disturbance leads to problems with the owners of the propery, or our
>first twitchable Redwing is chased off or dies because of our actions.
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Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii"
<html>
While looking for more information about Redwings, this sentence struck
me particularly :<br><br>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica"><x-tab> </x-tab></font>"Redwing
are among the least robust of thrushes and vulnerable to mass mortality
when overcome by cold spells. If no berries remain, having been stripped
earlier by blackbirds and mistle thrushes, they perish."
<br>
from
http://www.birdsofbritain.co.uk/bird-guide/redwing.htm<br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab></font>Another
site says that "They feed on invertebrates and form flocks with
Fieldfares in the winter. If it freezes they often invade gardens to feed
on berries and fruit. They are very frustrating birds as they are at the
bottom of the thrush pecking order and refuse any sort of artificial food
- it must be fruit! In really cold weather if you are unable to feed
fruit they simply starve."
http://www.birdcare.com/bin/showsketch?redwing<br><br>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica"><x-tab> </x-tab></font>The
various sites mention that they do eat the fruits of ornamental exotics,
including pyracantha berries, holly berries, cotoneaster, etc. They
also eat apples. Perhaps this should be kept in mind once the
berries on the holly bush at the Redwing's present location are all
gone. I have noticed lately that most of the Canada Holly and
Mountain Ash berry crops in my locale, at least, have been eaten.
<br><br>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica"><x-tab> </x-tab></font>There
is a very interesting report of the finding of a Redwing in New Brunswick
in 2001. The report of its sighting sets a remarkably high
standard! see
http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/maryspt/observ/redwing.html<br><br>
</font><x-tab> </x-tab>Patricia
L. Chalmers<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>Halifax<br><br>
<br>
At 08:28 AM 06/12/2006 -0400, Eric Mills wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite><x-tab> </x-tab>After
reading some recent accounts of observations of the Redwing in Brooklyn,
I would like <br>
to ask birders who go to look for it to give the bird some space. Waiting
for it to appear, even <br>
if that takes some time waiting at a distance, is preferable to
disturbing it and running the risk <br>
that it will move on, or worse, fall prey to a predator or stress during
cold weather. <br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>Eric
</blockquote><br>
At 08:41 AM 07/12/2006 -0400, Eric Mills wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite><x-tab> </x-tab>This
bird is a vagrant, way out of its normal range. It is <br>
subject to stress due to lack of food, inclement weather, predators,
<br>
and disturbance. The American Birding Association has a code of <br>
ethics for these situations, part of which says, "to avoid stressing
<br>
birds or exposing them to danger, exercise restraint and caution <br>
during observation..." Under no circumstances should birders <br>
attempt to flush the bird from shelter. Patience and good birding <br>
skills will pay off, as they have for many already. <br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>I'm
concerned about all of this, because the Nova Scotian <br>
birding community could end up looking pretty bad if continued <br>
disturbance leads to problems with the owners of the propery, or our
<br>
first twitchable Redwing is chased off or dies because of our
actions.</blockquote></html>
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