Mango "rescued" from the wild?
From the Wisconsin Birding Network...
Subject: mango update
From: "Mike Ramsden"
Date: Tue, 06 Nov 2007 09:22:53 -0600
The Beloit Mango has been rescued from the wild and is currently under the care of a licensed rehabilitator. Reports are that it is eating and doing well. I suspect that it will be transferred to the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago when it is able. If I receive any new information I will be sure and pass it along.
Mike Ramsden
Beloit, Rock County
* * *
The story unfolds...
Link: Mango captured, may be taken to zoo
Link: Mango saved from a Wisconsin winter
posted by Mike McDowell @ 6:56 AM
16 comments
16 Comments:
Has there been any discussion as to why that was done?
I beleive the bird was rescued because the weather is getting a bit on the cold side and it was never going to make it back to mexico.
I'm presently of the understanding that collecting a native bird can only legally be done if its found sick or injured.
Just found out the Mango isn't listed on the MBTA. Interesting.
John - there hasn't been too much recent discussion (to my knowledge) but when the weather was nicer there was some thoughts expressed that come cold weather an effort to capture the bird would be made.
The cost of capture was low yet the reward of publicity for birds and birding was (and will continue to be) great.
Mike - do you know if they will be releasing it in the spring?
Please... go release it where it is native in spring....it didn't fly up here to spend it's life in a zoo(although that be the safest place for any animal these days).
While on the surface this seems odd, it may be for the best. However, I could not find it listed in the MBTA either. Not sure why as it clearly should be. This probably would have prevented the "taking" of this bird. It is on the Proposed or Revised List (Aug 24, 06) which apparently is not in force yet.
From:
http://www.rubythroat.org/QuestionsOverwintering01.html
"If your winter hummingbird got to your northerly latitude in Pennsylvania on its own, you ought not hold it for the winter in some warm, indoor aviary and then release it the next spring. That could just encourage it to return the following winter and--if wayward migration is genetically determined--might result in its offspring making the same trip and tempting you to bring them indoors also. If this happened, in a few generations Pennsylvania could be overrun with Rufous Hummingbirds standing in line for winter housing, and that's not in anybody's--or any bird's--best interest. We'd be a lot better off letting natural selection determine the lot of winter vagrant hummingbirds. If they make it through the winter on their own, fine; if they don't, it should be just as acceptable. This may sound dispassionate, but that's the way nature works."
Rufous Hummers are a different story all together... the Mango was a fluke.
Not to start another issue, but if we are concerned with natural selection, why would we bother capturing injured and/or sick birds?
Points worth considering.
If you're interested there is a thread about "saving" hummingbirds from cold.
In this thread there is a response from Bob Sargent (a bander of birds and a hummingbird researcher) about the pair of Calliope Hummingbirds that spent part of the winter in New York City. These were New York's first Calliope Hummingbirds.
Search for the subject "Response on Wintering Strays from Robert Sargent". This is where he answers the questions we had about the pros / cons of capturing a hummingbird in the winter and releasing in the spring. I (and many others) were *firmly* in the "leave the birds be" camp.
We had the same issues in New York City the next year when a Calliope Hummingbird showed up on the southern tip of Manhattan.
This time a person set up a trap to capture the bird to take to the Bronx Zoo. Many thought, as Mike mentions, that only injured birds could be rehabbed.
Was the Green-breasted Mango a fluke, or the beginning of something? What that something might be would represent pure speculation on my behalf. But David Allen Sibley recently wrote about Great-breasted Mangos in the U.S. on his blog:
"This species is not included in the Sibley Guide to Birds because at the time that I was planning the book there were only two records north of Mexico. By the time I had finished the book there were 7 records (enough to warrant inclusion, if only I had known sooner!). Records have continued to increase with the total as of today up to at least 16 in Texas (through 2006) and single records in NC, WI, and GA. The WI and GA records are both in fall 2007, prompting this summary. Obviously it's a species that should be watched for all over the US."
Ornithological questions: Why are they increasing? Will we be looking at Green-breasted Mangos in the U.S. in 10 years, 20 years or more the way we presently look at selasphorus hummingbirds? Is it climate change? Is it because there are more nectar feeders in backyards? Is related to habitat loss/destruction on wintering grounds? What if it's a natural response/mutational fluctuation in their gene pool, perhaps common in other birds, as a way of expanding geographical range?
Carolina Wrens are expanding northward and some of them presumably perish from moving too far north and succumb to harsh winter weather. Like thousands of other birds, they quietly die somewhere in the wild, or, if weakened, are taken by opportunistic predators. Left in nature, the Beloit mango most likely would have perished this winter, just as other birds undoubtedly will do. Those siding for meddling/intervention denied this bird to risk what all wild birds risk. As one birder I know put it:
"We intervene as if we know best when in fact we really have no clue in many cases. Similarly, I think hummingbirds are a prime example of us enjoying our dominance over critters. They are kinda easy to manipulate with feeders and folks tend to latch onto to this group quite readily as a result. This increased connection, almost pet-like, causes such emotions that 'we must save the bird from imminent demise!' I don't think anyone will be heading out to 'rescue' the Milwaukee Wilson's Warbler anytime soon, even though it should be in extreme southern U.S. or even Mexico and Central America by now."
Two winters ago Becky and I hosted a Yellow-rumped Warbler, an arguably heartier cold-weather bird than a Green-breasted Mango and much nearer to its typical wintering range. From January to March, the warbler had plenty to eat, primarily subsisting on suet and thawing tree sap, but when temperatures dropped down to –15 degrees F. for several consecutive nights, Becky and I began to worry about the little bird's chances. Weighing heavily on my mind was a study I read indicating Yellow-rumped Warblers experienced high mortality during a cold snap in Utah during spring migration in 1975. There were a few times I would walk outside to check the feeders and the warbler, feathers all puffed out, would remain perched in the maple tree, sometimes allowing very close approach. I thought how easy it would be to catch and bring inside, but there was nothing wrong with it other than being very cold.
Certainly, I provided it with suet – a source of food not found naturally. (But consider how much suet is out there today with so many backyard birdwatchers). In this case, access to high-energy food turned out to be as much "help" as was necessary to give it. How far might I have gone? I can't answer with certainty, but if I had discovered the warbler one morning fluttering around in the snow, of course, I can't deny the temptation would have been great to collect it and bring it inside. If it had died, I probably would have felt pretty bad for a while, but I could have lived with that. Birds die. I respected the warbler - it endured and most likely began its northward journey on a warm evening in mid-March with southerly winds to help it along.
It's true - I have rescued injured birds. Most recently, an Eastern Phoebe with an injured wing during spring migration earlier this year. As I walked by it on the trail, the phoebe attempted to conceal itself under some leaves and sticks, but I intervened. I picked it up and drove it to the Emergency Animal Clinic who handed it over to a rehabber, where it was subsequently treated and released. I will never know the cause of this birds injuries, but if there had been a Cooper's Hawk perched above the phoebe, I probably wouldn't have collected it. Nevertheless, I still may have robbed a predator of an easy meal by rescuing the injured phoebe – I concede meddling with nature.
I guess I'm a sucker for injured birds flopping around on the ground. Behind every bird I've ever rescued was the intent to ultimately return it to the wild, near where it was collected, if possible. When removing any bird from the wild, there will always be speculation and debate about meddling and arguments only available in hindsight, but I still can't help but feel that this uninjured, healthy vagrant Green-breasted Mango has been placed in birdie jail for the remainder of its life, where it will at least be alive, but no longer wild.
Mike
Holy Cow! Mike I agree with your comment on the mango hummingbird.
Mike,
It's a miracle!
Mike
I agree with Mike's last lengthy comment. If you value wild birds as wild, there is a limit to how much you can intervene.
...disheartening...
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