The Early Movement of Starlings Into Ontario
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
92 The Early Movement of Starlings into Ontario by John Cranmer-Byng The first arrival ofEuropean had been sighted. He began by Starlings (Stumus vulgaris) in thanking him for his notes about various communities in southern the strange birds. 1beycertainly Ontario had a greater impact on sound like Starlings." He ornithologists than the expansion mentioned the small flock seen at ofother species, such as the St. Catharines the previous year, as Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis well as a bird seen by J. H. Fleming cardinalis) and the House Finch in his garden at Toronto. "It ( Carpodacus mexicanus). The main certainly looks as ifStarlings were feature of the starling arrival was headed ourway. " Itwould hardly the relative speed atwhich they extend beyond southern Ontario dispersed and the relative growth of along the shores oflakes Ontario numbers once they had gotten a and Erie, Taverner guessed, "but its toe-hold. The first records in preference for highly cultivated Ontario were from St. Catharines localities may be severely felt there. where a small flock was observed We hope the comparative severity during the winter 191 ~2O ofwinters will discourage iteven (Taverner 1920), and from there." Hamilton in 1920 when R. Owen In the same letter Taverner then Merriman wrote to Taverner about called on all bird and nature some strange birds. (Snyder (1951) organizations to use their strongest stated in his book Ontario Birds influence to prevent importations that 1be first observation ofit in offoreign species in the future. He Ontario now on record concerned hoped that Merriman would keep a flock offour or five birds seen at an eye open for starlings, and Niagara Falls in the autumn of would not lose an opportunity to 1914," butwithoutgiving evidence procure specimens. Taverner also to corroborate this statement.) drew his attention to a recently Taverner's reply (5 February published work on 1be Economic 1921) is worth quoting in part Value ofthe Starling in the United because it shows how some States" (Kalmbach and Gabrielson ornithologists in Ontario were 1921). beginning to react to the starling Further records were reported. arrival now that unfamiliar birds Fleming saw a flock flying over his John Cranmer-Byng, 27 Idleswift Drive, Thornhill, Ontario lAJ 1K9 ONTARIO BIRDS DECEMBER 1990 93 garden in the centre ofthe city in including Kingston, Hamilton, August 1920 (Fleming 1921). E. M. Kitehener, and London. By late in Dale reported starlings from that year starlings were present on London in 1920 (Dale 1921). The the outskirts ofToronto· in first specimen taken was in 1921 at considerable numbers. In the next Wolf Island near Kingston. year starlings were recorded from Taverner, in his position as senior 23 communities, including for the ornithologist at the National first time in Port Hope, Agincourt, Museum, kept some of his friends Milton, Guelph, Simcoe, and and fellow ornithologists across Chatham, linking up and Canada informed on the progress consolidating positions already of the starling invasion as it occupied by earlier arrivals. Also in developed. He told William Rowan this year there was a considerable (15 May 1922) that it had reached extension of range eastward from Kingston, Toronto, Hamilton, and Toronto and area. It was probably Chatham among other places. A in this year that starlings entered breeding record, also for 1922, Ontario through the Ottawa Valley came from Burlington and a and joined those that had entered probable one from Fort Erie. Ontario by way of the shorelines of Rather than use short, lakes Ontario and Erie, in the area unconnected notes written by ofBrockville and Kingston. From various people at that time I then onwards the expansion of propose to give a broad account of starlings was rapid. In 1925, 24 how the starling became established communities reported starlings for in southern Ontario in the years the first time. Some of these were: from early 1920 to late 1926. To do Algonquin, Picton, Cobourg, this successfully, I intend to use the Orillia, Niagara-on-the-Lake, only extensive account ofthe Goderich, Blenheim, Ojibway. starling incursion into Ontario in Starlings moving eastwards along those years. This was the paper Lake Ontario met others moving written for his Master's degree at westwards from Kingston. As a the University ofToronto in 1926 result, the range ofstarlings across by H. F. Lewis, at that time Chief southern Ontario was now Migratory Bird Officer for Ontario continuous. and Quebec (Lewis 1926). The earliest record of a nest By the year 1922 Lewis noticed discovered by Lewis was at two developments in the starlings' Burlington, Halton County, in May entry into Ontario. In this year 1922. This nest was built in a nesting was first reported; also this hollow, horizontal arm of a hydro can be seen as the year when the tower. In 1924, there were reports dissemination ofstarlings was ofnesting in eight places, and in beginning. During 1923 starlings 1925 from 11 places. Lewis gave a expanded into eight communities summary ofdistribution and VOLUME 8 NUMBER II 94 abundance as of 31 May 1926 ofsecure shelters stretching 80 (pp. 13-16 with map on p. 14 miles or more through fertile showing known distribution in the habitat into Toronto. As Lewis province, May 1926). He wrote: commented, with a touch of irony, 'The total number ofplaces in "they could not have had a kinder Ontario from which records ofthe welcome, and that they took full starling have been received is 75, in advantage ofit is shown both by the 32 counties named below. their early appearance in Toronto Counties in which starlings have and by their present abundance been found breeding are marked along the lines of towers." with an asterisk" (Lewis 1926, Regarding the future prospects 1927). of the starling Lewis noted that it Lewis devoted three pages to the was not attracted to forest and "Manner ofDissemination". In tundra, butseemed to like human Ontario, starlings continued to neighbourhoods, and preferred to show a definite preference for low feed on land that had been lying, cultivated land. They avoided prepared for agriculture. Starlings, the rough, higher land between the he predicted, would probably Ottawa and SL Lawrence rivers and spread as far asJames Bay. The north of Lake Ontario, and extent to which starling numbers congregated in low-lying ground would grow in Ontario would where there was an abundance of depend, Lewis wrote in 1926, close-cropped grassland. One factor largely on whether or not they in their dissemination may be learned to migrate. In Europe credited to two lines ofsteel towers starlings migrated to a limited of the Hydro Power Commission of extent, while in the United States Ontario. Each tower had a they appeared to be partly horizontal, hollow tube offour migratory. In Canada itwas too inches diameter, open at both ends, soon to tell. But during March and supporting a row offour heavy April 1926 there appeared to be a insulators. Each tube was 19 feet pronounced increase in numbers long. The starlings soon found that between Toronto and Hamilton, the inside of these hollow tubes was and in the vicinity ofBeamsville, useful for nesting purposes in near SL Catharines, as though a spring and summer and for spring migration northwards were roosting all year. As a nesting site it bringing additional birds to the was inaccessible to predators, and flocks ofstarlings that had wintered provided a safe and sufficiently in those parts. In contrast, although sheltered place. No mammals, starlings had been nesting in the raptors, or human beings could get vicinity of Guelph since 1924, and at them in these hollow safe places. were seen there in the fall of 1925 When starlings first reached in flocks of50 or more, none were Niagara they found this double line seen to have overwintered there. ONTARIO BIRDS DECEMBER 1990 95 Presumably they migrated south he said, far outweighed its few that winter. damaging ones, but in countries Ornithologists in North America where it had become abundant it in the early 19208 were particularly was capable ofdoing serious harm. concerned about the effects ofthe "The bird is here, uninvited, and we fast-growing numbers ofstarlings are unable to oust it ifwe would. As on fruit and agricultural crops. The the bird increases in numbers, effect ofstarlings on food crops changes in its activities may be could be determined only by expected ... It is a wary and examining the contents of their unobtrusive species that has no stomachs and analysing what they need for legal protection, as is ate. A major study was made by E. shown by its rapid increase in R. Kalmbach and I. N. Gabrielson, numbers in Ontario in seven years." of the Biological Survey of the Lewis concluded that, ifat some United States Department of time in the future the starling's Agriculture (1921). The authors activities should become stated: "As an effective destroyer of economically unfavourable, terrestrial insects, including such "control measures should be pests as cutworms, grasshoppers, instituted immediately." Lewis and weevils, the starling has few added a bibliography of the equals among the bird population starling, including only published of the northeastern United States. records ofstarlings in Ontario, ... The most serious objection to principal references to the the starling on economic grounds economic status of the starling in arises from its destruction of foreign countries, and other cherries ..." (Lewis 1926 quoting publications referred to in the teXL Kalmbach and Gabrielson). (I have Two accounts ofrecords of compressed the material, quoting starlings in the Toronto district in part and paraphrasing part). the 19208 were published by Snyder Lewis devoted 12 pages to an and Baillie (1925, 19~). These analysis of87 starling stomachs vividly show when and where the obtained by him andJ.