Crit de. Ee a No a Cuekola. bird stud oh MAR ST a ae 13 oh il EXTENSION PASS ON, THE TORCH” Volume VI NOVEMBER 1912 Number II Guide for North Dakota Bird Study. Published monthly during the college year by the Department of College Extension, Agricultural College. N. D. Entered as second class matter January 22, 1908, at the post office at Agricultural College, N. D., under act of congress of July 16, 1894. FOR’ THE PEOPLE OF ‘THE STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA NEXT NUMBER --- FARM ANIMALS Guide for North Dakota Bird Study Growth of Bird Study The rapidly growing interest in the study of birds has made necessary the preparation of a guide which may serve to direct the many bird observers in North Dakota along the lines which should yield the greatest pleasure and pro- fit to themselves and the largest advantage to the state. It is earnestly hoped also that the pointing out of the way to make a beginning may stimulate others, who have hesitated because of apparent difficulties or obstacles in the way, to enter this fascinating field where so many important discoveries await the alert and sympathetic student. The past decade has witnessed a most remarkable spread of in- terest throughout the United States in bird life from the relatively few enthusiastic ornithologists to. the hundreds of thousands of people who are now coming to know and appreciate birds as never before. This movement is only in its beginnings, however, and the coming decade should see a much wider diffusion of the spirit of first-hand bird study. Many factors have contributed to give dynamic impetus and to render this movement possible. Organizations have been effected which united, stimulated and directed the members. __ in all parts of the country. An abundant literature accom- panied by simple methods of learning the names of biras has been developed. Colored pictures showing with remark- able accuracy the color, form and appearance of the living birds often in their natural haunts have been prepared by the greatest of naturalist artists and placed upon the mar- ket at prices which put them within the reach of all and through the proper use of these the birds themselves come to be recognized and known. The development of methods of bird photography has not only afforded interesting activity for many people but has provided a wealth of illustrative material for popular accounts of birds and their habits in books, periodicals and lectures. The extensive investigations of the United States bureau of Biological Survey have not only furnished important in- formation relative to the distribution, abundance and mi- gration of birds but have provided a substantial basis of economic facts in their publications for a proper apprecia- tion of the important relation of birds to human industries. THE WXTHNSION 3 Many state biological surveys have likewise added their quota to the accumulating data along similar lines of local study. The introduction of bird study in its varied phases into the public schools has been a most important means of reaching not only the rising generation of children but through them extending the message and spirit to the older generation. Many clubs and organizations not primarily devoted to bird study have also rendered valuable assistance in the pro- gress of this movement through the presentation of special papers and lectures upon topics related to bird life and habits as numbers upon their regular programs. The recognition within recent years of the fact that much of our best education and the most fundamental les- sons of life come not from the reading of books alone but by learning first-hand from nature has given a new trend and a more helpful attitude toward life out of doors. The s:z- nificance of alert attentiveness to the varied forces at work among living things is being realized and made a prominent factor in human development. Bird Study for All—The availability and suitability of bird study for all ages and conditions of mankind has made this an especially attractive field. The little child less than two years old will shout and clap its hands with glee as it toddles along toward a bird on the lawn. In response to the same deep seated instinct of their nature the growing boys and girls full of superabundant energy may find suitable and helpful occupation in the pursuit of these elusive crea- tures in their varied haunts. Proper direction of his ac- tivities is usually all that is necessary to transform the nor- mal boy into one of the most useful bird protectionists. As mature age is reached a still enlarging field of interest opens up. The study of individual birds and species, their abund- ance, distribution, migrations, nesting and feeding habits and their intricate relation to human life and affairs affords avenues from which each may select according to taste and inclination. Rich or poor, healthy or infirm, the invalid re- elining at a window, the hardy persons who tramp afield and those who employ the space-defying automobile, all may find in the birds lines of interest suited to their needs and opportunities full of possibilities of enlarging the horizon of their lives. Such worthy examples as the venerable John Burroughs show that with advancing years these life-long interests may be pursued with undimished ardor and_ en- thusiasm adding zest and richness to what should be, but too often is not, the crowning period of life. 4 THE EXTENSION Why Study Birds—The study of bird life is not advocat- ed because of sentimental considerations for the birds them- selves, but on account of their important relation to human life and welfare. An analysis of the subject from this point of view reveals the fact that birds are to be considered from the standpoint of three main groups of people, though the same person may have a place in each of these groups. 1st, those who are interested in birds because of the pleasure to be derived from acquaintance with the living bird, 2nd, those who are interested as hunters in the game birds, and 3rd, those who are financially interested in birds because of their economic relation to such lines of production as agri- culture, horticulture and forestry. Persons who belong to the first group and find their greatest pleasure in the living birds have a much stronger claim for the recognition of their rights than has usually been appreciated. People as a whole are just beginning to realize that the gaining of wholesome pleasure is not merely a harmless pastime but that this is of fundamental import- ance in the development of a worthy, well-rounded human life. The brightest minds of the present day are being de- voted to a solution of the problem of how to bring a larger proportion of pleasure into the lives of larger numbers of people. It is coming to be recognized that much of the in- tellectual, social, and economic stagnation in the world is due to the fact that not enough pleasure is sought or found to satisfy and stimulate the life to its largest possibilities of accomplishment and development. Witness the move- ments on foot to provide playgrounds for the children, to arrange for shorter hours of labor and longer hours and suitable places of recreation for those who toil and especial- ly the efforts that are being made to organize those who live more or less isolated lives in the country into social commu- nities where young and adults may seek and find pleasurable activities sufficient to satisfy the natural craving of the mind for pleasure. Hence, when we, as a people, come to appre- ciate more fully the fascinating delight, the wholesome in- fluence and the recreational value of tramping the fields, roaming the woodlands, wading the sloughs or boating on the waters to get acquainted with the living birds, the more confidently may this right to enjoy one of uature’s choicest heritages be asserted and maintained. Birds being a natural wild and shifting population, belong to all the people, hence are rightfully declared in the law to be the property of the state as a whole. On this ground the people of the state are justified in insisting that even though a given bird has no THE EXTENSION 5 special economic value, nevertheless if not harmful it should be preserved to give charm to the landscape and afford plea- sure to the people who find increased enjoyment because of the presence of those creatures which are the living embodi- ment of beauty, grace, music and domestic felicity. The people of North Dakota have in the past thought too little about the discovery and perpetuation of those features of her natural endowment which add delight to existence. Now that people are coming from far distant places to study our bird life and find it well worth their time and effort, when loca] bird students who have studied our North Dakota birds for many years attest the richness of the possibilities which he within the state, when we are dealing with living forms which respond so quickly to favorable conditions, is it not time that we as a progressive, farsighted people awake to the opportunity and responsibility of maintaining and add- ing to the natural a‘tractiveness of the state by adequate protection of this one of our greatest natural heritages? This must be brought about largely through an awakened pubjic sentiment and the individual activities of the people by directing and controlling conditions upon their own pro- perty and in their own community. Hence the importance of having interest in birds diffused through all available channels until it reaches all the people in every community in the commonwealth. Next the point of view and the rights of the second eroup—the hunters,—not only of the present time but of generations yet unborn, must be considered. To insist that all hunting and killing of game birds is wrong is to main- tain that one ofthe most deeply planted instincts of the mas- culine human nature is a perversion. The primitive races of men found their means of livelihood largely through hunt- ing and success in hfe was conditioned upon strength, en- durance and skill in the hunt. A large majority of perfect- ly normal boys still, and perhaps ever will, pass through a period of their individual development when the hunting in- stinct is dominant and must be properly directed or grati- fied if the boy is to develop those hardy, alert and vigorous qualities which are of prime importance in the making of a man. Annually thousands of mature men, weary and worn by the strenuous and often unnatural toil of modern civilized occupations, find in the pursuit of game. birds tne allurement which leads them to _ forsake business for a few days and betake themselves to _ the health-giving influence of woods and_ fields. Here in the haunts of the game birds in contact with the ele- 6 THE EXTENSION mental forces of nature, engaged in a pursuit which requires vigorous physical activity and absolute forgetfulness of other affairs for success in the sport they find relaxation, rest and recuperation. Much of the disrepute associated with hunting and hunters has arisen through the disregard by some thoughtless or inconsiderate men of the property rights of those on whose land they are hunting and through a failure to restrain their immediate self-interest for the larger good of the community. Men must learn to be con- tent with a reasonable bag of game, at least with that num- ber which corresponds with the consensus of publie opinion as indicated by the legal limit. Men may learn that the plea- sure and benefit to be derived from the hunt are not con- ditioned upon unlimited slaughter, but rather upon the as- sociations and enjoyment of natural surroundings which the hunting season affords. Many boys and men have learned that even greater pleasure and benefits may be derived from the study and photographing of the living birds, because of the much higher degree of hunting and stalking skill re- quired, because of the larger opportunity which this affords for real acquaintance with the bird and its habits and the even more attractive and valuable trophies which they have to show. People of North Dakota should realize that a pub- lie-spirited, far-sighted policy requires that the splendid natural resources be maintained not only for the enjoyment of the present generation but passed on unimpaired to sue- ceeding generations so far as this is possible in civilized com- munities and consistent with agricultural interests. Here again ,there is the greatest need for the development of an enligtened publie sentiment so that as individuals and com- munities we shall neither exercise nor tolerate that spirit of unlimited destruction of game which has led to the practical extermination of game in many places and is so seriously reducing the numbers of many of our own game birds, but rather devise ways and means to increase and perpetuate them. Last, and in many respects, the most important of all is the standpoint of those who are interested in birds from. financial considerations. Too long people have been accus- tomed to look upon birds as objects only of sentimental in- terest. How often one hears the remark dropped by persons unfamiliar with modern methods of bird study that there is nothing of practical value about the study of birds. No more mistaken view could well be imagined. A modern view based upon the most carefully investigated facts is that re- cently expressed by Dr. H. W. Henshaw, Chief of the U. S. THE EXTENSION 7 Bureau of Biological Survey, that without the services of insect-eating birds, ‘‘it is more than likely—nay, it is almost certain—that within a limited time not only would successful agriculture become impossible, but the destruction of the greater part of vegetation would follow.’’ The fol- lowing statement made by F. E. L. Beal in 1897 is significant in this connection. ‘‘It has been known that birds play an important part in relation to agriculture, but there seems to be a tendency to dwell on the harm they do rather than on the good. Whether a bird is injurious or beneficial depends almost entirely upon what it eats, and in case of species which are unusually abundant or which depend in part upon the farmers’ crops for subsistence the character of the food often becomes a very practical question. If crows or black- birds are seen in numbers about corn fields, or if woodpeck- ers are noticed at work in an orchard, it is perhaps not sur- prising that they are accused of doing harm. Careful in- vestigation, however, often shows that they are actually de- stroying noxious insects, and also that even those which do harm at one season may compensate for it by eating noxious species at another. Insects are eaten at all times by the ma- jority of land birds, and during the breeding season most kinds subsist largely and rear their young exclusively on this food. When insects are unusually plentiful, they are eaten by many birds which ordinarily do not touch them. Even birds of prey resort to this diet, and when insects are more easily obtained than other fare, the smaller hawks and owls live on them almost entirely. This was well illustrated during the recent plague of Rocky Mountain locusts in the Western States, when it was found that locusts were eaten by nearly every bird in the region, and that they formed almost the entire food of a large majority of species.’’ Since this was written extensive investigations have been carried on in all parts of the United States and at all seasons of the year. Detailed information is now at hand, regarding the food habits of most of our common species. — That of other species is being worked out as rapidly as state and national funds will permit. In case a question arises regarding the apparent destructiveness of any species be- fore beginning indiscriminate slaughter the matter should be refered to those expert in these matters either in the De- partment of Agriculture at Washington, D.C., or the N. D. Agricultural College and Experiment Station. Available in- formation will then be furnished as a basis for Judgment re- garding further procedure and in ease there is need for fur- 8 THE EXTENSION ther investigation of the situation the scientific machinery of state and nation is at the service of the citizens. Economic Relations of Birds With reference to the general economic status of birds it is customary to classify them in four main groups as out- lined by A. K. Fisher: (a) Those wholly beneficial or wholly harmless (b) Those chiefly beneficial (c) Those in which the beneficial and harmless quali- ties seem to balance each other. (d) Those positively harmful. To determine in which of these groups a given bird be- longs involves a vast amount of patient labor including field observation, experimental feeding and study of the actual stomach contents of many birds taken in different places and at all seasons of the year. The matter is one of too grave importance to depend upon hasty judgments or casual observation. The principal services which birds render are usually grouped into: (a) The destruction of harmful insects, both those which prey upon crops and trees and those which spread disease. (b) The destruction of injurious mammals especially rodents, such as rabbits, gophers, ground-squirrels and mice. (c) The destruction of weed seeds. (d) Serving as scavengers by removing offensive and dangerous decaying materials. Birds are nature’s most efficient check in preserving a proper balance in nature, that is, in preventing the undue increase of insects, rodents and weeds. Where natural con- ditions are left undisturbed by man this balance is main- tained with remarkable perfection. But, civilized man is everywhere a disturbing element in this perfect natural har- mony. His activities and occupations usually tend to cause a reduction in the number of birds at the same time that his agricultural operations make conditions more favorable by providing shelter and additional food for the increase of in- sect, mammal and weed pests. One frequently hears the remark that there is no need to worry about those thing up here in North Dakota, that conditions are such that we shall never be bothered by them, especially insects. They used to talk that same way in what are now the older settled states and this complacent or ignorant attitude led to neglect of proper control over nature’s forces until now in spite THE EX'’TENSION 9 of spending much time, labor and millions of dollars an- nually in combatting these pests by artificial means, the people are constantly suffering defeat and enormous losses. No thoughtful, careful observer can fail to see that these conditions are developing in North Dakota. Only ordinary intelligence and foresight are required to see that eternal vigilence and the employment of all the natural means to keep these pests from multiplying is our only hope of es- ecaping continually increasing losses. Already large sums are being spent in spraying operations against insects and single counties are spending amounts running to thousands of dollars annually distributing poison to decrease the num- ber of gophers. The annual loss to the grain producers through the depletion of the soil, lessened yield in spite of increased labor and lowered grade of grain because of the presence therein of weed seeds is perhaps even better ap- preciated by most farmers. The following data taken largely from the reports of the Bureau of Biological Survey of the U. 8. Department of Agriculture, can be confidently accepted as applying well to North Dakota conditions. Large numbers of bird stomachs have been examined and field studies made in connection with the Economic Biological Survey of North Dakota which give abundant warrant for the above state- ment. The detailed results for North Dakota will be com- piled and reported in due time. (See account of Biological Survey beyond.) Birds and Insects. In order to appreciate the work of birds in holding in check the increase of insects one should remember that this work is continued by different species all the year through both by day and night, that birds eat a much larger amount of food in proportion to their size than most animals, that not only the adult breeding in- sects are destroyed, but their eggs and young are eaten in enormous quantities and thus their development and _ re- production are prevented. One should recall also that if unchecked the offspring of a single adult female insect living from spring to fall will run from hundreds up to hundreds of millions depending upon’the species. ‘Think what it means to have only a single one of these insects killed in spring as you consider the following facts. The damage now done by insects in the United States amounts to several hundred millions annually the entire loss for 1909 being estimated by Dr. L. A. Howard, Chief of the U. S. Bureau of Entomology as $1,200,000,000.. This means several dollars for every person in the entire population of 10 THE EXTENSION the United States. Another investigator estimates that 21,- 000 bushels of insects are eaten daily in Massachusetts by the birds. Another that 170 carloads of insects are de- stroyed in Nebraska each day. A pair of nesting Wrens has been observed to take over 600 insects from a garden in one day, while investigation shows that 98 per cent of the food of Wrens consists of insects. A young Robin in one day ate 165 cutworms while another young Robin ate from 50 to 75 ecutworms per day for a 15 day period. A study of 330 stomachs of Robins shows that 42 per cent of the food was animal matter largely insects and their larvae and 47 per cent wild, not tame, fruit. One Chickadee had 454 plant lee in its stomach. A Cedar Waxwing’s stomach contained 100 cankerworms, that of a Nighthawk 60 grass- hoppers, that of a Flicker 1000 chinch bugs. A Maryland Yellowthroat was reckoned as having eaten 3,500 plant lice in 40 minutes. Insects and their allies constituted 76 per cent of the contents of 205 Bluebird stomachs. Cater- pillars made up 34 per cent of the stomach contents of 113 Baltimore Orioles. Stomachs of 238 Meadowlarks examined showed 73 per cent animal matter, nearly all insects. Grass- hoppers and Crickets were the important items of the bill of fare being 29 per cent average for the entire year and 60 per cent for August. During August and September the food was 99 per cent insects. Space will not permit the giving of further data, but those who are interested are referred to the list of bulletins beyond in which a wealth of important information may be found. Birds and Rodents. The amount of damage done each year by small rodents such as_ rabbits, hares, gophers, ground-squirrels and prairie-dogs is usually fairly well ap- preciated. The number of different species of mice which the biological survey work has shown to be present, hiding not only about houses, barns, granaries and meadows but along fence-rows, sloughs and strips of timber, with their enormous possibilities of increase and mischief to crops, stored grain and trees is not so well understood. Neither is the important work of hawks and owls in holding these pests in check at all adequately realized. Deep-seated pre- judice against these birds still holds sway. Farmers and hunters shoot them down at sight with little thought of the loss which this thoughtless destruction may entail. The possibilities of loss through this condition of affairs was set forth with remarkable clearness in 1886 by Dr. C. Hart Merriam, for many years Chief of the U. S. Biological THE EXTENSION 11 Survey in discussing the law passed, but soon repealed by Pennsylvania providing a bounty on hawks and owls. ‘‘On the 23d of June, 1885 the Legislature of Pennsylvania past an act known as the “‘sealp act,’’ ostensibly for the bene- fit of agriculture, which provides a bounty of fifty cents each on Hawks, Owls, weasels and minks killed within the limits of the state and a fee of twenty cents to the notary or justice taking affidavit. By virtue of this act about $90,000 has been paid in bounties during the year and a half that has elapsed since the law went into effect. This represents the destruction of at least 128,571 of the above mentioned animals, most of which were Hawks and Owls. Granting that 5,000 chickens are killed annually in Pennsylvania by Hawks, and Owls, and that they are worth twenty-five cents each (a liberal estimate in view of the fact that a large portion of them are killed when very young) the total loss would be $1,250 and the poultry kall- ed in a year and a half would be worth $1,875. Hence it appears that during the past eighteen months the State of Pennsylvania has expended $90,000 to save its farmers a loss of $1,875. But this estimate by no means represents the actual loss to the farmer and the tax payer of the state. It is within bounds to say that in the course of a year every Hawk and Owl destroys at least a thousand mice or their equivalent in insects, and that each mouse or its equivalent so destroyed would cause the loss of two cents per annum. Therefore, omitting all reference to the enormous increase in the numbers of these noxious animals when nature’s means of holding them in check has been removed, the lowest possible estimate of the value to the farmer of each Hawk, Owl and weasel would be $20 a year, or $30 in a year and a half. Hence, in addition to the $90,000 actually expended by the state in destroying 128,571 of its benefactors, it has incurred a loss to its agricultural interests of at least $3,857,130, or a total loss of $3,947,130 in a year and a half, which is at the rate of $2,631,420 per annum. In other words the state has thrown away $2,105 for every dollar saved. And even this does not represent fairly the full loss, for the slaughter of such a vast number of predaceous birds and mammals is almost certain to be followed by a correspondingly enormous increase in the number of mice and insects formerly held in check by them, and it will take many years to restore the balance thus blindly de- 1g THE EXTENSION stroyed through ignorance of the economic relations of our common birds and mammals.’’ The above view was well substantiated by subsequent developments and investiga- tion. Fortunately no such folly has occurred in North Da- kota as the passage of a law paying a bounty on Hawks and Owls, nevertheless, this undiscriminating slaughter still goes on beeause of prejudice and just for the fun of shooting something. If it be true, (and it is well within the true value) that each Hawk and Owl on the average is worth $20 per year to the farmer it is high time that people stop- ped to think and discriminate before shooting. No sane man would deliberately shoot a farmer’s pig or calf worth $20 just for fun. Then why shoot these birds which are equally valuable to the farmer and the state? There are three Hawks, Cooper, Sharp-shinned and Goshawk, and one Owl, Great-horned Owl, that are positive- ly harmful and may very properly be shot. But the rest of the Hawks and Owls commonly resident in North Dakota belong to the class which are either entirely beneficial or the beneficial qualitities outweigh the harmful. The harm- ful features of these latter may readily be overcome by reasonable protection of the poultry, encouraging King- birds and Purple Martins to nest about the poultry yard or premises and occasionally shooting a particular Hawk or Owl which is positively known to have acquired the habit of killing poultry. The latter method will seldom need to be employed. For further information consult the ltera- ture cited beyond, especially ‘‘Hawks and Owls from the Standpoint of the Farmer,’’ by A. K. Fisher or ‘Useful Birds and their Protection,’’ by E. H. Forbush. Birds and Weed Seeds. Birds are occasionally accused of scattering weed seed by earrying them in mud on their feet or dropping them with the excrement. This is so small an item compared with the enormous number of weed seeds destroyed as to be negligible. Anyone who will take the trou- ble to go out through the weed patches during September, October and November while the Juncos, White-throated, Harris and Tree Sparrows and others are migrating can see abundant evidence of the hosts of helpers in the constant struggle of the farmer to keep down the weeds. Continu- ing this observation through the winter, spring and sum- mer will be a revelation to any alert, thoughtful observer. According to the careful investigations and estimate of F. E. L. Beal of the U. S. 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