It seems like the Game Farm must have been in violation (unless they were permitted otherwise) of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, as well as the esteemed professor:
Establishment of a Federal prohibition, unless permitted by regulations, to "pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, attempt to take, capture or kill, possess, offer for sale, sell, offer to purchase, purchase, deliver for shipment, ship, cause to be shipped, deliver for transportation, transport, cause to be transported, carry, or cause to be carried by any means whatever, receive for shipment, transportation or carriage, or export, at any time, or in any manner, any migratory bird, included in the terms of this Convention . . . for the protection of migratory birds . . . or any part, nest, or egg of any such bird." (16 U.S.C. 703) On Thu, Mar 3, 2011 at 1:56 PM, John Confer <con...@ithaca.edu> wrote: > HI Folks, > > The only state-owned pheasant farm left in NY is our own on Game Farm > Rd. The immediate factor that led to the close of the next to last game farm > was budget concerns, (although there may well have been environmental > reasons to close them.) Our pheasant farm was scheduled for closure, but the > threat of declining hunting licenses may have kept it open. > > By the way, until about 20 years ago the game farm controlled for hawk > and owl predation by putting leg traps on the poles and then killing the > captured raptors, which would have died of a broken leg, anyway. By the > way, did you know that Professor Allen wrote a small brochure (It's in the > archives for the Cayuga Bird Club at Uris Library) about How to Kill the Bad > Hawks (which meant those that take chickens and birds we like) without > killing the good hawks that take mice and rats. About 15 years ago, Profesor > Whittaker, the famous ecologist of the widely-used text, called up the Hawk > Barn, while it was still in Ithaca, to say that they should come and capture > the Cooper's Hawk feeding at his bird feeder or he would take care of the > hawk himself. Yeah, values do change. > > Cheers, > > John Confer > > > On 3/3/2011 1:47 PM, Meena Haribal wrote: > > Well, I was thinking Red tailed hawks were “organic feeders”, they want > free ranging pheasants. > > > > Anyways, how come pheasants are preferred food? These are non native > birds. And are there so many pheasant farms all around US? May be the > particular study that found pheasant are preferred food, happen to have > been conducted in Ithaca around game farm and does not reflect true > preferences of RTHA???? > > > > Just another query. > > > > Meena > > > > > > Meena Haribal > > Boyce Thompson Institute > > Ithaca NY 14850 > > Phone 607-254-1258 > > http://meenaharibal.blogspot.com/ > > http://haribal.org/ > > > http://haribal.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/wildwest+trip+August+2007+.pdf<http://www.geocities.com/asiootusloe/http:/www.geocities.com/asiootusloe/mothsofithaca.htmlhttp:/haribal.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/wildwest+trip+August+2007+.pdf> > > > > *From:* bounce-8671320-3493...@list.cornell.edu [ > mailto:bounce-8671320-3493...@list.cornell.edu<bounce-8671320-3493...@list.cornell.edu>] > *On Behalf Of *John Confer > *Sent:* Thursday, March 03, 2011 1:05 PM > *To:* Candace Cornell > *Cc:* cayugabirds-l > *Subject:* Re: [cayugabirds-l] Why don't RTHA eat all the pheasants at the > game farm? > > > > Hi Folks, > > I have talked with the Game Farm manager. He told me that they try to > release about 130,000 pheasant each fall, that the captive flock starts in > fall at about 35,000, and that they loose about 7000 to predation every > year. Since the potential for the weight of snow and ice on the screen > prohibit the use of screen on top for about 200 days of the year, that means > about 35 eaten per day. This winter the count may be higher. There is the > mega-number of hawks now, but when the first remove the over-the-top screen > in early fall there aren't as many predators around, and before they but it > back in spring, there aren't as many hawks then either. So, even though > there may be more than 35 eaten per day now, an average of 35 per day for > the entire period of no-screen seems reasonable to me. > > I must admit that I get some satisfaction from seeking hunting license > dollars going to feed red-tails. After all, we birders loose the pleasure of > seeing so many things due to hunting, it is nice to have some turn around. > > I wonder how many owls eat there? > > I wonder if juvenile red-tails have a lower efficiency of capture than > the adults? > > Cheers, > > John > > > > > On 3/3/2011 12:22 PM, Candace Cornell wrote: > > This may be a naive question, but why don’t the large number of Red-tailed > Hawks (15-60+), which keep vigil at the Ring-necked Pheasant pens on Game > Farm Road in Ithaca, decimate the pheasant population? According to the > BNA, Ring-necked Pheasant is one of their preferred foods and I've seen > them eating what looks pheasant entrails within the pens. > > > > Candace Cornell > > > > > -- asher -Never play it the same way once. -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
