Interesting/Little Known introduced populations

[Cassidy Casuar]

Apparently, guineafowl are not as good at stopping ticks as sometimes thought and may actually spread the disease further, as an important nursery for tick nymphs. I am not sure if the species has established but if thousands have indeed been released, then it wouldn't surprise me at all if they did.

This reminds me of how 28,000 Grey Partridge were released on the North and South Islands of New Zealand in 1959-1970, but the species still failed to become established anywhere in the country. It is said that some still existed in Southland in the 1980s, but to my recollection, even then, there weren't any confirmed sightings of the species anywhere in the country.

 

[vogelcommando]

Asian hornet already found as north as Hamburg ! :

The northernmost record of the Asian hornet Vespa velutina nigrithorax (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)

 

[birdsandbats]

Learned this recently and thought it was interesting. At two well-known zoos in Southern California - Los Angles Zoo and Orange County Zoo - peafowl are a common sight on the grounds. But neither zoo keeps any peafowl. They are wild birds that came from a release in LA in 1880 - that's before North America had starlings. They are common in many areas thought the state.

 

[vogelcommando]

Boa imperator on Cozumel ( Mexico ) :

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[DesertRhino150]

I have found mention of a few bird introductions in Britain that didn't result in a population establishing, but I thought I would include them here for the sake of interest:

- Red-winged tinamou in Essex; in 1883 and 1888 a total of 22 were released to try and provide a new gamebird; some of the birds from 1883 survived the five-year gap between releases but died out soon after the second release

- Purple swamphen at Woburn, Bedfordshire; in 1897 a total of 60 purple swamphens were released onto the estate grounds

- Rosy starling at St James' Park, London; introduced by bird enthusiast Frank Finn - the starlings remained in the park for a few months but, being naturally nomadic, eventually left and were not recorded again

- Black woodpecker in Suffolk; cannot find much about this except that, in 1897, either 8 or 9 black woodpeckers were released in the county

The source for the tinamou, swamphen and woodpecker information comes from the book 'Birds of Essex' while the starling information comes from the September 2019 issue of Cage and Aviary Birds.

 

[carl the birder]

thear are two lemur species on the comeros mongoose lemur (Eulemur mongoz) and common brown lemur (Eulemur fulvus). bothe have probebly bean introduse. i also saw somthing about black and withe ruffed lemur on renuion but i cant find anyting more about it

 

[carl the birder]

i aslo did not know that chestnut bellied sandgrouse on Hawii

 

[DesertRhino150]

Another one that I have just heard of - genetic analysis of porcupine quills collected in Italy not only found the more standard Northern crested porcupine Hystrix cristata (probably introduced in medieval times, now common and expanding its range in the region) but also confirmed the presence of the more recently-introduced Indian crested porcupine Hystrix indica in the area.

https://boa.unimib.it/retrieve/handle/10281/185206/263831/Morietal.2017_H.indica.pdf

 

[Great Argus]

Learned this recently and thought it was interesting. At two well-known zoos in Southern California - Los Angles Zoo and Orange County Zoo - peafowl are a common sight on the grounds. But neither zoo keeps any peafowl. They are wild birds that came from a release in LA in 1880 - that's before North America had starlings. They are common in many areas thought the state.

Mmm... while I cannot confirm the presence in the zoos or the release date, I can say they are not common outside of the greater LA area. Also many people keep peafowl and as such the status of reported birds is questionable.

 

[Chlidonias]

- Rosy starling at St James' Park, London; introduced by bird enthusiast Frank Finn - the starlings remained in the park for a few months but, being naturally nomadic, eventually left and were not recorded again

The original source was Ornithological & Other Oddities by Frank Finn (1907; available online), where he writes, in the chapter "Foreign Birds at Large in England":

"A few years back I myself liberated in St. James's Park a dozen specimens of that loveliest of starlings, the rosy pastor [Pastor roseus) ; but, with the exception of one which fell a victim to a stone, and another, probably of this lot, observed about a fortnight later twelve miles from London, they all disappeared before long. Yet it is very unlikely that they died, for the species is a particularly hardy one, eating anything, from grass to flies, and often reaching our shores unaided, when it associates with starlings till some one shoots it."

He also writes, of the Pekin Robin, that "in 1905 I turned out more than three dozen in the London parks; yet none were seen after a few months."

 

[Chlidonias]

Black woodpecker in Suffolk; cannot find much about this except that, in 1897, either 8 or 9 black woodpeckers were released in the county

The original source is W.A. Dutt (1906) Wild Life in East Anglia but unfortunately it does not appear to be online. I only found two mentions of the introduction in available books and they give no further information (they both say 7 or 8 birds, though, rather than 8 or 9).

 

[Pertinax]

The original source is W.A. Dutt (1906) Wild Life in East Anglia but unfortunately it does not appear to be online. I only found two mentions of the introduction in available books and they give no further information (they both say 7 or 8 birds, though, rather than 8 or 9).

This one (Black woodpecker) is interesting in so much as it had it been done since the advent of the big conifer forests in Suffolk/Norfolk i.e. Thetford Forest, then it might have succeeded. There is speculation that this impressive species will eventually colonise the UK as nowadays it is found just across the Channel in the Low Countries, and further speculation as to why it hasn't done so already.

 

[Mr. Zootycoon]

This one (Black woodpecker) is interesting in so much as it had it been done since the advent of the big conifer forests in Suffolk/Norfolk i.e. Thetford Forest, then it might have succeeded. There is speculation that this impressive species will eventually colonise the UK as nowadays it is found just across the Channel in the Low Countries, and further speculation as to why it hasn't done so already.

One reason I can think of why they have not reached the UK, is that they are virtually absent from the western part of the Netherlands. Their increase here as stopped and there are local decreases in numbers, especially in the northeast of the Netherlands (maybe partly due to range expansion of Goshawks). However, they are strong flyers, and there has been colonization of dune forests in the past (though those populations have dissappeared now).

 

[Pertinax]

One reason I can think of why they have not reached the UK, is that they are virtually absent from the western part of the Netherlands. Their increase here as stopped and there are local decreases in numbers, especially in the northeast of the Netherlands (maybe partly due to range expansion of Goshawks). However, they are strong flyers, and there has been colonization of dune forests in the past (though those populations have dissappeared now).

Yes, the information that they are 'just across the Channel' from the UK may not be entirely accurate, particularly if there has been a more recent local contraction in some areas. Possibly the flight distances or open sea are also barriers to colonisation but there is still speculation they may eventually arrive here.

 

[Crotalus]

Not sure if any of these have been mentioned yet but there’s obviously plenty of gamebirds and pheasants introduced to the United States for hunting. Some of the more interesting ones in the wider US to me are Himalayan Snowcock in Nevada’s Ruby Mountains, and some Helmeted Guineafowl.

As for Hawaii, it’s got its own too: Indian Peafowl, Kalij Pheasant, 3 species of Francolin, both Gambel’s and California Quail, the omnipresent Red Junglefowl, and most interestingly to me Ring-Necked Pheasant and Wild Turkey, which I understand but surprise me.

One last one that may be known that I did not; Rock Ptarmigan on New Zealand and South Georgia, of all places. They’ve also been introduced to the Crozet and Kerguelen Islands.

 

[DesertRhino150]

Possibly the flight distances or open sea are also barriers to colonisation but there is still speculation they may eventually arrive here.

I'm not sure how accurate this information is (I suppose some of our Dutch members may know) but in the 2010 book 'Birds and Forestry', which is one of those books that mentions the 1897 Suffolk release, it says that black woodpeckers "have apparently spread to Dutch islands further from the mainland than the width of the English Channel".

The reason I have heard for the absence of black woodpeckers from Britain is lack of food. I don't know what the situation is on the near-continent, but Britain has no native carpenter ants and lost a lot of its larger wood-boring beetles, both of which are apparently important in black woodpecker diets.

 

[birdsandbats]

Not sure if any of these have been mentioned yet but there’s obviously plenty of gamebirds and pheasants introduced to the United States for hunting. Some of the more interesting ones in the wider US to me are Himalayan Snowcock in Nevada’s Ruby Mountains, and some Helmeted Guineafowl.

As for Hawaii, it’s got its own too: Indian Peafowl, Kalij Pheasant, 3 species of Francolin, both Gambel’s and California Quail, the omnipresent Red Junglefowl, and most interestingly to me Ring-Necked Pheasant and Wild Turkey, which I understand but surprise me.

One last one that may be known that I did not; Rock Ptarmigan on New Zealand and South Georgia, of all places. They’ve also been introduced to the Crozet and Kerguelen Islands.

Afaik the guineafowl are gone now. There are Burmese Red Junglefowl in Georgia, and Indian Peafowl in Florids, California, and Texas.

Hawaii has Japanese Quail as well.

 

[Mr. Zootycoon]

I'm not sure how accurate this information is (I suppose some of our Dutch members may know) but in the 2010 book 'Birds and Forestry', which is one of those books that mentions the 1897 Suffolk release, it says that black woodpeckers "have apparently spread to Dutch islands further from the mainland than the width of the English Channel"."have apparently spread to Dutch islands further from the mainland than the width of the English Channel".

Which islands would that be? The only ones we have are the Wadden Islands (not counting Carribean territory, for obvious reasons) and they're not that far from the coast. Also, Black Woodpeckers do not occur there. Only Great Spotted has succesfully colonized all the larger islands, with Lesser Spotted occuring (but not really established as far as I know) at least on Texel (the largest island).

I do not know if it's physcially possible for a Black Woodpecker to cross the English Channel on a good day. But even if there is habitat on both shores, they are unlikely to stray far from their birth territory. Currently, I think the chances are slim that they make it to the UK, though it would be fanastic if they would establish there!

 

[Pertinax]

I believe- from reading the monograph on this species-that they have also spread onto Islands in the Baltic Sea, and in Denmark which both require them flying distances over water as great as the English Channel.

As to the diet, Carpenter Ants don't feature in their diet everywhere, and their absence in the UK is not believed to be a deciding factor in their successful colonisation, should it ever occur.

 

[Chlidonias]

One last one that may be known that I did not; Rock Ptarmigan on New Zealand and South Georgia, of all places. They’ve also been introduced to the Crozet and Kerguelen Islands.

This is from Wikipedia (and copied directly from there to various other websites). The only reference given on Wikipedia for this claim is John Long's Introduced Birds of the World.

Of those four locations, Long only mentions New Zealand, for which he simply says "Ptarmigan were imported to New Zealand in 1897 but it is not known if they were released into the wild". This import was a collaboration between several of the acclimatisation societies in New Zealand, and in fact none of the birds even made it to New Zealand - they all died en route. There were no other attempts made, and there are no ptarmigan in New Zealand.

I can find no evidence for the other localities stated on Wikipedia (South Georgia, Kerguelan, and the Crozet Islands). They certainly don't occur on any of those islands today if they were ever introduced.