Catch-And-Release? - - Maybe Not

 

     Well I finally did it. As you’ve maybe read in an earlier blog, we do a certain amount of bird feeding. The downside to this is that we are encouraging  a welfare-state behavior in the local population of House Sparrows. It seems that if we want to feed any birds we must also feed these seed sucking samples of serious sylvan slovenliness.

     So I finally gave into the more violent side of my nature and brought in a hired gun. I mean I was done fooling around with these LBBs. (Or as they’re known in the birdwatching community, little brown birds.) He showed up this morning around 11:00 AM, sat on the fence to survey the project, then dove right in. Literally. He made a run at one LBB, chased it through a juniper tree, then through a tangle of sage and some other local deserty bush, came out the other side hot on the tail of the LBB, ran it around the end of the house, and the last I saw had it going down the street. Whether the LBB survived that encounter or not I have no idea, but when the hired gun got back to my back yard he was licking his lips and looked a little fatter.

     At this point the House Sparrows were sitting around with their little beaks agape, wondering if this hit on one of their family members was just a random drive-by or the beginning of a war. Almost immediately the hired gun zeroed in on another astonished LBB who only escaped by dashing under a group of low pine shrubs. Without any hesitation, the hired gun followed the sparrow. The result was that sparrows came flying out headed in all directions. The gun followed one of them out unto the golf course where we lost track of the action. We got the feeling that catch-and-release was not part of this guy’s game plan. After running down a couple more LBBs our property was devoid of sparrows. The hired gun sat in a nearby tree for a while, but nobody showed up to contest his takeover.

     After about thirty minutes of patrolling the property, he left. That was five hours ago and we haven’t seen a House Sparrow since. Now considering the long-term memory, or memory of any kind, I’m curious to see how long they can stay away from the free food.

 

 

HIRED GUN 

 

     There is some discussion in our household whether this is a Sharp-shined Hawk or a Coopers Hawk. For comparison purposes, the pipe is 1 5/8” in diameter. I would appreciate any comments on that issue.