Its early spring and the fields surrounding my home are still brown and empty. The land lies flat and open, allowing for inspirational sunrise and sunsets. A virtually ever present wind blows across the top of fields.
Typically, this time of year the resident Great Horned Owl pair would occupy one of their favorite tree tops to scan for danger and food for their brood. The presencee of the owls attracts the attention of the Red Tail Hawk. Watching the hawks soaring in the sky is gratifying and always reminds me of the absolute beauty and power in nature.
This year, I haven’t seen any of the native raptors that frequent the trees around my home.
However, I have seen plenty of homing pigeons. I have lived here for almost 15 yrs and the arrival of these birds started just a few years ago. The arrival of these non native relatively large birds was a bit startling at first. These are the birds that strut around in city parks and gather on window ledges. These are not the much smaller and native mourning doves that are part of the natural landscape.
Why are these birds here?
What changed in the last few years that would allow these non native birds to infiltrate the local ecosystem?
There must be good nesting sites, plentiful food supply and lack of predators.
No doubt the old grain silos provide the perfecct perch and nesting sites they prefer – but those have been here for decades – thats not new.
How about plentiful food supply? These fields have been full of corn, soybeans and leftovers from farm animals for 200 yrs. – thats not new.
That leaves the predator factor.
The lack of natural predators that would help keep their population numbers under control. A hungry and clever owl would quite easily snatch one of those big fat birds off the top of those silos. nd they would come back until they were gone. And the hawk would swoop down and grab them with their talons while they were strutting around in the driveways.
However, the raptors are gone because the old growth trees and that provided perfect nesting sites for these large birds are being ripped outof the ground to mnake room for housing developments
Short sigted farmers tear old wind and dust blocking tree lines so they can mow easier.
sunrainlife 