Ravens nevermore?

Originally Posted By dl1956

This last trip to DL I saw tons of duckies but very few, if any, flocking ravens that I used to recall seeing, particularly around the trees on Tom Sawyer Island. Anyone know what might have happened to them?

 

Originally Posted By aliceinherownland

Im guessing that the decline of the ravens on the island may be partly due to all the renovation and work that had been going on for the pirate caves and Fantasmic.

 

Originally Posted By SuzieQ

If you stay at the GCH and stand on your balcony around sunset, you can see the massive flocks landing in the trees above NOS.

 

Originally Posted By sherrytodd

I do know that the Raven and Crow populations in the United States have been two of the hardest hit bird species by West Nile Virus. I've noticed fewer of them where I live in Colorado, but they seem to be making a come back.

 

Originally Posted By dl1956

Good point about the virus. Of course now the survivors are really going to be tough birds.

 

Originally Posted By monorailblue

Who wants loud squawking sky vermin in Disneyland? Isn't that what remote national parks are for?

 

Originally Posted By nemopoppins

My guess is that Disney took care of the problem somehow. I remember many people getting pooped on. Especially because of West Nile Virus, something had to be done to control the population.

 

Originally Posted By rockcow1

I always thought the ravens in the trees outside of the HM really added to the mood. I liked coming out of the exit to here all the cawing. Kinda creepy!

 

Originally Posted By SuzieQ

I'm curious, nemopoppins, how would you control the population?

"sky vermin" - LOL! Guess that includes the bats that fly around, too, huh?

You need a certain population of flyers to control the insects.

 

Originally Posted By Gonzo

If you happen to be a castmember and a canoe racer this morning you would not be wondering where the ravens are.

 

Originally Posted By nemopoppins

SuzieQ, I'm hoping a trapping and relocating operation, subcontracted out. Also, I would guess locating nests and removing them. I would hate to picture something like mousetraps.

 

Originally Posted By SuzieQ

Huh. Never heard of anything like that with birds unless it's an endangered species.

LOL at Gonzo! I hadn't noticed any drop in the Raven population either.

 

Originally Posted By nemopoppins

I hope they're not returning. It has been better these past one or two years than it had been a couple of years prior. Or maybe it's seasonal? I haven't been there in August for a couple of years. I wish a crow specialist would write. Maybe Darkbeer could help us. He knows everything.

 

Originally Posted By Lisann22

You can't catch and release crows. Here's a good article about the issues in San Diego with crows. I know of similar issues in Central and Northern California because we collect thier feathers when they molt for our regalia.

Hunting is allowed during a specific time period only. So I highly doubt Disney has the ability to control the problem unless cutting down trees.



<a href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20060225-9999-lz1n25crows.html" target="_blank">http://www.signonsandiego.com/
news/northcounty/20060225-9999-lz1n25crows.html</a>

 

Originally Posted By Sweeper

Just to clarify, these are crows, not Ravens. Ravens are larger and solitary or travel with a mate. Crows travel in huge groups (a murder of crows). I personally hope they are all dead. Crows are not native and they are destroying native bird populations. They love to eat baby birds. I have saved a few baby Kestrels from the nasty crows.

 

Originally Posted By SuzieQ

Hate to tell you this, but they are native.

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Crow" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A
merican_Crow</a>

And the Raven is a member of the crow family.

"The true crows are large passerine birds that comprise the genus Corvus. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-sized jackdaws (Eurasian and Daurian) to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents (except South America) and several offshore and oceanic islands (including Hawai‘i)."

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crow" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C
row</a>

 

Originally Posted By Lisann22

Um, yeah they better be cause we do not use feathers from birds not native to California.

We have capes that are hundreds of years old with crow feathers on them.

<a href="http://www.backyardnature.com/cgi-bin/gt/tpl.h" target="_blank">http://www.backyardnature.com/
cgi-bin/gt/tpl.h</a>,content=353

 

Originally Posted By nemopoppins

But it really seems to me like there are less crows at Disneyland now than there were a couple of years ago. Maybe they're just doing some sort of prevention thing like keeping garbage covered and removing food quicker. Or maybe they're enticing them all to move to San Diego.

 

Originally Posted By Lisann22

nemopoppins the crows could have naturally moved on also.

 

Originally Posted By SFH

>>They love to eat baby birds<<

Darn right. Ever wonder how the duck population at the park stays under control?