Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!att!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!hplabs!hpda!hpwala!hpavla!przybyls
From: przybyls@hpavla.HP.COM (Tom Przybylski)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: bird begging
Message-ID: <5280001@hpavla.HP.COM>
Date: 9 Aug 89 16:57:11 GMT
References: <4529@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu>
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Avondale Division
Lines: 27


     Bird begging is not just an "urban" phenomina, unless you consider
anywhere a lot of humans go to be urban.  I have seen the same thing at
the Long's Peak campground at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.
The animals (birds, chipmunks, squirrels) beg to some extent all year
long.  During the summer, they get fed a lot, from people directly and
from grubbing in the garbage.  The real problem comes just after all the
crowds leave at the end of summer.

     I had a very strange evening meal one year just after Labor Day.
There were very few people in the campground and it was fairly cold
(low 40's).  I had to eat dinner hunched over my plate with a pile of
small stones at hand to throw at the critters so I could save a little
food for myself.  There were chimpmunks and squirrels under the table,
on the bench and crawling up my legs.  There were birds under the table,
on the table, and in all the trees around me.  They were Stellar Jays,
sparrows, and some other small birds I didn't recognize.  The behavior
of the birds was like you describe - both begging and stealing.

     It was both humerous and sad. It seemed obvious to me that the
animals were going to be in trouble with no people around to support
either an excessive population or their lack of natural foraging.  I
suspect there would be a die-off in a few weeks.  Still, it was about the
most interesting meal that I ever had out of doors.  I managed to eat
about half of my supper, I lost the rest.

- Tom Przybylski