Gooday Birders
My two bobs worth re the impact of dogs on birds. It seems in areas
where dogs are prevalent whether leashed or not the birds either clear
out for good or get used to them, which they probably would have done
years ago. It appears that most bush birds are less impacted than ground
inhabiting birds such as Plovers and waders etc, especially in less
disturbed areas like natural bushland. Don't forget that waders also
have to contend with natural predators such as falcons and foxes in
their breeding grounds in the northern hemisphere. Birds being mobile
can fly to another location until the mutt moves on, as much as it may
annoy them. However, what about the impact of dogs on reptiles and
mammals and even frogs. I wonder if dogs have a greater impact on these
than birds. You can still see Superb Blue Wrens in parks and reserves
around Sydney. How many see Wallabies in the same parks.
I'd say most of the people walking dogs are more interested in their
dogs pleasure than the birds inconvenience or the survival of a bird
population. And, to stir the pot a little, they are probably very
happily ignorant of the dogs impact and simply don't care anyway. One
day human society might mature and grow out of the dog, and horse habit
(whoa, that might fire up a homicide).
Greg Little
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Graham Turner
Sent: Thursday, 13 September 2007 4:21 PM
To: Baus
Subject: Re: Walking the dog is bad for birdlife
The fact that the birds return does not mean that they are not affected
by
the interaction.
The best example is waders. Every time they are disturbed they are not
feeding and are using up energy. Once or twice may not be an issue but
regular disturbance may mean that the birds do not put on as much weight
as
they can, may have trouble returning to their breeding grounds and may
have
reduced breeding success.
I'm sure similar things happen with sedentary birds but as to what
impact
this has is worth further investigation.
Cheers
Graham Turner
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