Introduced Species

After going to Hawaii and finding mostly introduced birds, I went out birding today and saw some Nutmeg Mannikins that had been trapped by a county park naturalist..  These birds originate in Southeast Asia.  They have been introduced to Hawaii and Australia and now Texas.  I was interested in why these have been so popular as released species.  There is an article in the Houston Audubon Society website that disusses the Nutmeg Mannikin's introduction to other parts of the world..  They discussed the pet trade, the release of birds at some weddings and family functions, and other information on this species.  I thought that you might find this info interesting.  Other sources of info on these birds include Birder's World andBirdForum.

The following table and information shows the different types of descriptors of origination of the species from Wikipedia.

One example of introducing an exotic animal was carried out by a lover of the works of Shakespeare, who wanted to introduce all of the birds mentioned in Shakespeare's plays into the United States. He deliberately released eighty starlings into Central Park in New York City in 1890, and another forty in 1891. The starling had been introduced previously into Ohio and had failed to survive.  Some species, such as the Brown Rat, House Sparrow, Ring-necked Pheasant and European Starling, have been introduced very widely. In addition there are some agricultural and pet species that frequently become feral; these include rabbits, dogs, goats, fish, pigs and cats.

Most everybody knows about the House Sparrow and Starling, but did you know that the House Finch is an introduced species in the eastern US?!?  Here is ablog discussing that very issue.   Other species were White Winged Dove, Eurasian Collared Dove, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Rock Doves, Monk Parakeets and other psittacines.

9:08 PM - November 20, 2009 - comments {0} - post comment