Interesting assessment Dave, it will be interesting see which 'option' the birds choose. Let's hope for everyone's sake the vultures choose to move at least part of their group to somewhere where they won't be bothered, or bother others. There are certainly plenty of available trees and this can't be the first time vultures have had to deal with this in their evolutionary history. While some may be concerned for the vultures returning to find that the only summer 'home' they ever knew is now gone, the landscape remains suitable for them and they will surely adapt to this inconvenience.
Keep us posted. Arvind Panjabi Fort Collins Sent from my iPhone > On Apr 1, 2014, at 2:58 AM, DAVID A LEATHERMAN <[email protected]> wrote: > > As many of you know, there is a historical Turkey Vulture roost in Fort > Collins (Larimer) on Mountain Avenue at the nw part of its intersection with > Washington. For reference, this is about a mile east of the entrance to > Grandview Cemetery and exactly two blocks east of Shields Street. This roost > has been there many years but I do not know the exact number. Most summer > mornings when the temps begin to warm, these birds head out in search of > roadkill and other casualties of wild life. From my many visits to the > cemetery, most days I'd say they head west toward Horsetooth Res, Rist and > Poudre Canyons, or Red Feather Lakes. Return is usually sometime between 5 > and 7pm. Dr. Alex Cringan, a wildlife prof at CSU and one of the major > supporters of Breeding Bird Atlas 1, kept track of this roost. Sadly, dear > Dr. Cringan passed away within the last year. If anyone knows the > whereabouts of his data for this vulture roost, please let Georgia or me > know. Thanks. > > At any rate, over 100 birds have occupied this roost in certain summers. > Recently they have focused on 6 large spruce trees. Four of these overtopped > the front part of a vacant lot and two were very nearby on City right-of-way > between sidewalk and curb. Several dozen TVs doing what they do to cope and > process their lifestyle is not pleasant if you are underneath those results. > No doubt mostly because the roost centered on a vacant lot, the neighborhood > tolerated the big black birds with bare heads that for some reason picked > them. They even raked and disposed of the feathery mess from time to time. > On bad days the stench had to be considerable. I don't know all the > conflicts and heated discussions that probably occurred between neighbors > with differing views, or between them and the various authorities who were no > doubt contacted. But to the collective credit of the neighborhood, the > vultures have been allowed to persist. In this rare case, ecological > services prevailed over other much more common, valid, urban values. But > like I said, it was a vacant lot and nobody was directly underneath the death > squad. > > Last year or perhaps late in 2012, the lot went on the market. It was > underpriced, no doubt because of the vultures, and snapped up. The couple > who bought it talked to some of us about vultures and you could see what was > coming. The purchasers wanted to do some building and vultures didn't fit > that scenario. The four private spruce were cut. The City refused to cut > their two. > > So, while the vultures were away, 2/3's of their historical roost was > removed. What would the returners do? What could they do? Option 1: size > things up, totally abandon the site, and relocate. Option 2: all pile into > the 2 City trees and diss each other even more than they historically had > done. Option 3: utilize the 2 City trees to a normal density and the > spillover birds expand into new nearby trees. Option 4: utilize the 2 City > trees and the spillover birds totally relocate. I received a report from > Georgia Doyle, a professional biologist, who many of you know and who lives a > few blocks away, that 5 birds showed up in the two City trees last week on > March 24th. So far, the main group has not shown up. I saw 8 birds in the 2 > City trees today. The birds have options for expansion if they need more > spruce to accommodate the total number of arrivals. There are 3 spruce > growing together on the Mountain Street trolley median just to the west. And > there are scattered, even better spruce on several lots with old homes in all > cardinal directions. The tension is high for folks who own those trees. > While they may have tolerated the vacant lot scavengers, as we all know, and > in this case I'd say quite understandably, "in my backyard" for something > like this usually generates a different reaction. > > One of the potential new inheritors of roosting vultures is a couple who are > friends of mine. They will remain nameless in the spirit of witness > protection. The man, let's call him "Buzz", does what we all do nowadays > when we don't know an answer - he did an internet search for "vulture > repellants" (or was it "vulture deterrants"?). Sorting thru the 4,268,712 > matches, he came to the conclusion his best tried and true option was a > top-of-the-line $150 vulture effigy. If properly hung by one foot high in > the area one does not want vultures to sit for a second, its maker (a company > ("All About Props") in Tucker, Georgia that creates odd items for movie sets) > guaranteed success and congratulated Buzz on being the first owner of this > product in Colorado. After additional fees of $15 shipping and $40 to a > professional tree climber for installation, the Centennial State's inaugural > 18-inch TV effigy swings in the breeze, macabre as all getout, about 50 up in > a large blue spruce one block to the northwest. You won't see this very > realistic rubber or resin likeness, complete with "real feathers" (Model > PPT268 has an estimated 3-year field life, IF taken down and stored properly > over winter), unless you know exactly where to look. Buzz wants vultures to > see it from their typical tree crown vantage, but not neighbors who might be > victims of the roost expansion and somehow blame him, regardless of his > ingenuity, initiative, and financial sacrifice. As with most true reality > shows, I "get" almost all the possible points of view. > > This is awesome. A classic urban wildlife conflict involving government, > private citizens, new techniques, site fidelity, migrant non-breeding and/or > teenage birds learning life skills such as which peers to hang out with (live > and upright is better than dead-looking and dangling), etc. One can feel the > tension, knowing dozens of new birds could show up any day. Fort Collins' > nickname is "The Choice City". This surely seems to be about choices - those > of both birds and people. I will try to remember to post an update in the > next couple months. > > I bring this up not to incite any controversy. Please. To my knowledge > nobody has done anything illegal. The scene is set. It's interesting. In a > way that's respectful to the neighborhood living with it all, let's just see > what happens. > > Dave Leatherman > Fort Collins > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Colorado Birds" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/SNT148-W23D7656011D5861171889C1620%40phx.gbl. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. 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