Save our grosbeak? No.
Posted on January 1st, 2009 – 11:18 AMBy Jim Williams
I have written recently about the Rose-breasted Grosbeak that has so far over-wintered in our neighborhood. It is a daily visitor to the seed feeders attached by suction cups to a large glass door in our dining room. On the night of 30 Dec the temp fell to 15 below zero here (western Minneapolis suburb). For the two days before that when the grosbeak came to feed it didn’t look good. We did not think the bird would make it through that frigid night. It was breathing hard and fast, its bill gaping with each breath. We’ve seen it in prolonged shivering. On the 31st we didn’t see it all day long, assumed it was a goner, then discovered it sitting in the feeder after dark. It arrived as we were about to leave the house to attend a New Year’s celebration. We would not have been surprised to find the bird dead when we got home. Nope. There he sat, in the feeder, leaning against the glass, gaping with a steady rhythm. The bird obviously was not going to wherever it has usually roosted for the night. My wife and I discussed what we could or should do. We decided to see what the morning brought. At daylight the grosbeak was exactly where it had been at 1 a.m. Now what? Capturing the bird and taking it to a rehab site was/is a possibility. The bird is very mobile, however, flying well. It allows us to stand almost nosed-to-nose with it as long as glass separates us, but sudden movements by us inside or our appearance on the deck put it to flight. That makes capture difficult. The 0ther problem I have is that the bird is programmed to die. It’s failure to migrate indicates to me a defect that under natural circumstances would have been or should be fatal. Circumstances here are not natural because we feed birds, and this fellow has taken advantage of that. Still, nature has maintained viable populations of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and all other species by culling from their populations those individuals unfit for survival. If a bird that should migrate to Mexico instead spends the winter in Minnesota, that bird is unfit. It should be allowed to die. If its defect is genetic and could be passed to offspring that only weakens the species. A female that could invest her genes in a healthy and normal male bird wastes those genes if she mates with a defective male. That’s the way the system works. And so, although we already tamper with nature by feeding and putting out water, we’ve decided to do no more. The grosbeak is on its own. What would you do in this situation?
10 Responses to "Save our grosbeak? No."
Ahhhh-the old where do we humans intervine and where to let things be as they should? You are doing right by letting nature run its course. Sadly, you’ll have to wonder if feeding is prolonging the inevitable. Such is the on going dilemmas I ponder with feeding and watering the winter birds!
Makes me feel a bit selfish.
Hey, Jim:
I’m from the school that almost invariably tries to give wild creatures a second chance. Quite often, especially in winter, a bird may be debilitated by the relentless cold; a short stay in a rehabilitation center, with regular meals, warmth and maybe some antibiotics, can work wonders. You might then have a perfectly healthy bird ready to be released outdoors.
It’s not true in every case that a dwindling bird has deficient genes that shouldn’t be passed on. People used to believe that about hummingbirds that appear in the Southern states in winter, but now we are coming to realize that there’s a winter migration made by these little birds that we know very little about. This is not what’s happening with your grosbeak, obviously, but in my book it would be worth trying to get him some help.
Might you be able to toss a towel or
sheet over the feeder, than bring the whole apparatus into a porch or garage, then confine the bird to one section of cloth, get a firm hold on the bird, and transfer him to a box or paper bag? You know where the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center is, and they’ll be happy to take him in.
Some might say this is “playing God,” but not to do anything might fall into the same category–you’re making some big assumptions about the bird’s viability here.
Good luck, cruzo los dedos!
As much as I would be tempted to try to help the bird, I think your clear-eyed, unsentimental view is probably appropriate. We anthropomorphize animals that we find appealing. Nature seems cruel to us, but she knows best.
Thanks to the three of you for your thoughts. We did not see bird yesterday, nor has it been seen today, so the point might be moot. Or, sleeping late today might have put me and the bird on different schedules. Val says I am making “big assumptions” about the bird’s viability. I suppose so, but that bird shivering in our feeder is real, no assumption there. It hasn’t done what it’s supposed to do — migrate. What ever explains that behavior is good enough for us.
I share Mimi’s pondering on our impact when we feed and water birds in the winter. Studies I have read say that feeders provide about 20 percent of the nutrition a bird needs to survive a winter day. Is that enough to tip the scales one way or another? I don’t know. I do know that birds need all the humman friends they can get, and I believe that feeding builds those friendships.
The grosbeak has not been seen for two days. A White-throated Sparrow has made an appearance, however.
This is ignorance. Certain human technologies are proving to sometimes interfere with bird migration, and I am sure there are other factors besides some defective gene. Cruel and unusual, we don’t tell people who get the flu to make it or too bad. This is what rehabilitation centers are FOR. The instinct to migrate is way too intense for our food and water to hurt them, it only helps birds. I thought the author of this blog was a bird expert?
Most people recover from the flu. Failure to migrate is almost certain to mean death for a neo-tropical bird species like the grosbeak. Rehab centers, as far as I know, operate on limited resources. I favor investing those resources for greatest return. A bird that won’t or can’t migrate, for whatever reason, is not a good investment in my view.
Seems kind of harsh to let it slowly die. The reason I rescue animals in distress is to alleviate suffering as well as give them a chance to survive. Yes, nature is cruel, but if I can do something to help, I do. I am not worried about diluting the gene pool by rescuing a few animals in distress and bringing them to the Rehab Center.
Rehab centers also often have a second function of providing education birds…birds that naturally would die in the wild, but are kept safe in the center or brought to schools and other events for educational purposes. This is where my love of birds began, seeing injured (but beautiful) owls and raptors who are kept by an organization indeed TO inspire a love of nature, letting us see close up and for a focused amount of time what we might miss as it flits from the treetop.
Thanks for these thoughts, Bird lovers will really love to read this article.
Rose.
Newspaper Subscriptions
eEdition
RSS
Newsletters