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The newest peewee was a cat victim. Not long after I got her, she started vomiting blood. I euthanased her.

And I was handed a starling chick and a blackbird chick. I can't keep feral birds so I euthanased them, too.

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It's odd to think of blackbirds as feral, but I suppose that for folks in England, it's odd to think of starlings as feral.

Our blackbirds are English imports, but they've been here so long (over 100 years) that the male's song is changing. A blackbird from Australia wouldn't get any mates in the UK because the females wouldn't recognize his call.

Our blackbirds have an accent!

They probably curse, too.

Sorry to hear you've had to put down three birds in one day.

But as to accents, it doesn't take thousands of miles seperation to cause problems, researchers have found major "accents" within England for many bird species. IThe research started at least ten years ago looking at blackbirds, and they found that even over the distance between London and Birmingham ( a couple of hundred miles), there were some very noticeable changes in calls...

... and yes that does mean there really are Cockney Sparrows. :)

Stupid question here, but doesnt feral mean wild? And, arent the peewee's wild? Thus arent they feral too? Or am I not getting it?

Feral here means introduced wild species, as opposed to domesticated.

That's a new one to me - we call them "introduced" or "non-native" here, and "feral" means members of a domesticated breed that have reverted to the wild over generations, like the "wild" horses of the American west or the alley cats of most big cities.

Sigh... sometimes I think MOST of the fauna here in Los Angeles is non-native. Leastwise I'm pretty sure the Red-Tailed Hawks are native, as are the Great Horned Owls. And the seagulls and pelicans. But the squirrels, possums, sparrows, starlings, crows, pigeons, and I think most or all of the finches came in from elsewhere. A lot of interesting birds migrate through here, like mallards, herons and whatnot.

Yeah, the problem is the English-speaking population speaks a different language in Oz. It causes all kinds of problems when we try to communicate with each other. But then, the English-speaking population in the US also doesn't speak English. *Shrugs*

Batty, I'm sorry to hear of your woes. I was tempted to post the lyrics to "Down Came a Blackbird," but other than the title, it's not really that appropriate. And it's rather a sad song.

Have the best

-=TK

The crows, ravens, 3 of the dove species, and most of the finches are natives, too.

Good - then I can feel less guilty about enjoying the activities of the finches (which one must admit are cute.)

The crows and ravens may be native, but when I was growing up the local noisemakers were mockingbirds and scrub jays, and we rarely if ever saw a crow. Oh well, I still do hear the occasional mockingbird.

We also have raccoons and I've NO idea if they're native or not.

My folks live in down in Orange about an hour or so's drive from here, and they get the occasional roadrunner, which is also local iirc.

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