The Fresno Bee today featured a 40-inch story in the front page section about the tricolored blackbird. (I realize this blog disproportionately refers to Fresno Bee stories. The paper is, after all, reporting from the No. 1 ag county in the world.) The article doesn't quote ANR scientists, but because it is so closely tied to the agricultural industry, an important ANR clientele, I believe it belongs in the ANR news blog.
Bee reporter Mark Grossi interviewed UC Davis staff research associate Robert Meese of the Department of Environmental Science and Policy.
He reported that the tricolored blackbird is not an "endangered species," and farmers want to keep it that way. Already, they have to deal with flocks of thousands of birds. Grossi opened his article with the story of a Kern County hybrid wheat and rice farm. "To the chagrin of the farmer, the 75-acre field became an avian mega-nursery." The farmer sold the crop to the government to avert a wildlife disaster.
"You can understand why the birds might be considered a pest by dairy owners," Meese was quoted in the article.
Though a nuisance, farmers do not want to see the bird's population dip low enough to trigger Endangered Species Act protections.
"Farmers and environmentalists -- often adversaries over wildlife issues -- have joined in an unusual alliance with government wildlife agencies and scientists to work on the blackbird problem," Grossi wrote in the article.
