escape wrote:



Grackles are bullies which eat up all the food used by migrating birds,
song birds, and nesting local birds. They kill nesting birds, eat
nesting eggs, torment dogs and cats. and mess up cars. I can think of
no redeeming features about grackles.


Harold


I can. They are sentient beings worthy of their life as much as any other life.
They suffer as much as any other sentient being suffers. I'm sorry, but I see
through the eyes of a Buddhist mind. Sorry for that if you disagree. Grackles
are native birds. They are not invading, they belong here.


So you think it is all right if they kill off all the migrating birds,
songbirds, and REAL native birds? They are well on the way to creating
a nation-wide crisis of migrating birds being killed off, here in Austin.

I'm no Buddhist, but I do love birds, all kinds of birds. Grackles are
murdering the beautiful birds of this country and we will have nothing
left but Grackles and Pigeons, then only Grackles pretty soon. Is that
what you want?


Harold

On Fri, 15 Apr 2005 21:29:52 GMT, Harold Robbins
wrote:

So you think it is all right if they kill off all the migrating birds,
songbirds, and REAL native birds? They are well on the way to creating
a nation-wide crisis of migrating birds being killed off, here in Austin.


Grackles are real native birds. Pigeons are not. Both are
proliferating because of human activity. It is our untidiness that
allows grackles, rats, pigeons, and other similar species to thrive.
They are opportunistic.

At some level, you have to admire birds that can apparently thrive on
stale french fries and dried chewing gum. Grackles all now know how to
steal dried dog food and drop it in the dog's water dish to soften it.
They learned this behavior from each other, within a decade or so of
the proliferation of dried dog food. That's pretty impressive.

Have you ever looked closely at a male grackle showing off in the sun?
This time of year, they are spectacular -- shiny black plumage with
purple and green highlights.


Elliot Richmond
Freelance Science Writer and Editor

I love Grackles. They form a line and proceed across the lawn eating all
the bugs that are there. When I mow they follow me around and capture every
grasshopper that dares to move. Today I had 20 or so our in the yard eating
the dreaded worms and other bugs. I have plenty of native birds and do not
agree that they are bullies. They have plenty of redeeming features.

I could say I hate Robins. A group came through here earlier this spring.
The ate every berry from the Lugustrum. They then proceeded to poop the
seeds (in a disgusting black) on everything in site including my car. I am
now seeing an infestation of Lugustrum every where. I can deal with that
and I washed the car so no damage done. They enjoyed a couple of days of
bathing and pooping and eating my earth worms before heading north. I often
wonder why they don't sing their traditional song here, only their alarm
song.

What ever it is Friday night and we need some rain all I have is beer.






"Harold Robbins" wrote in message
m...


escape wrote:



Grackles are bullies which eat up all the food used by migrating birds,
song birds, and nesting local birds. They kill nesting birds, eat
nesting eggs, torment dogs and cats. and mess up cars. I can think of no
redeeming features about grackles.


Harold


I can. They are sentient beings worthy of their life as much as any
other life.
They suffer as much as any other sentient being suffers. I'm sorry, but
I see
through the eyes of a Buddhist mind. Sorry for that if you disagree.
Grackles
are native birds. They are not invading, they belong here.


So you think it is all right if they kill off all the migrating birds,
songbirds, and REAL native birds? They are well on the way to creating a
nation-wide crisis of migrating birds being killed off, here in Austin.

I'm no Buddhist, but I do love birds, all kinds of birds. Grackles are
murdering the beautiful birds of this country and we will have nothing
left but Grackles and Pigeons, then only Grackles pretty soon. Is that
what you want?


Harold

What ever it is Friday night and we need some rain all I have is beer.

LOL
That sounds like the start of a great country song....

escape wrote:


You really do need to give me more than conjecture. Where have you read they
are murdering beautiful birds of this country causing a nation wide crisis?
What do you mean by "real" native birds? They ARE real native birds. Are we
talking about the same animals? I am talking about boat tailed grackles.


I'm talking about the millions of birds that were not in Austin 20 years
ago and now infest every tree in the city. They eat the eggs of
songbirds if they can find the nest, they kill any songbirds that come
into Austin which is on the major migratory path between the north and
Mexico. They overwhelm the songbirds and the pretty birds and kill them
or starve them to death. They paint the cars white. If you park under a
tree to avoid the sun, when you return you will find several hours of
work cleaning your car. If they have any redeeming features, I havn't
seen them. You call them native, maybe they are in other parts of Texas
but they aren't here.


Harold