At 09:21 AM 8/22/97 +0000, lorne wrote:
>... This blast anything feral trip agrivates me... Where's the tangible
> proof that Collared Doves are ruining things for native birds? ...
(Since most birders are feral, introduced subspecies themselves, it's
probably out of guilt.)
This topic could turn into a lot of sound and fury... but some random
observations:
I saw Collared Doves in Florida, USA for the first time this year, and it
seemed they were surviving mostly at the expense of domestic pigeons. That
seems quite an improvement, so maybe this particular species is not that big
a problem.
I would have thought Australians, with your experiences of cats and rabbits,
would have little sympathy for a feral species that is truly destructive to
native wildlife...
But control may be necessary even for native species, not only feral ones.
In North America for example, the Brown-headed Cowbird, a nest parasite, has
been able to expand its range enormously following forest clearing, and is
exterminating many species.
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