A small population of Apostlebirds in western Sydney is probably introduced. It isn't that far east of the species' natural distribution, but it seems unlikely that this population formed naturally.
Interesting/Little Known introduced populations
- Thread starter birdsandbats
- Start date
A while ago I bought a copy of 外来鳥ハンドブック/The Handbook of Introduced Birds in Japan (2012). It seems to be hard to find, despite being a tiny paperback that isn't very old. Here is a list of the birds featured in the book that aren't in the invasive bird list on the NIES website:
-Feral Helmeted Guineafowl
-Feral Turkey
-Feral Chicken
-Copper Pheasant (presumably introduced to areas outside its natural distribution in Japan)
-Feral Chinese Goose (Feral Domestic Swan Goose) (though the photos show geese that are probably hybrids between Chinese Geese and Domestic/Feral Greylag Geese; I don't know whether this is stated in the text)
-Feral Greylag Goose
-Egyptian Goose
-Feral Muscovy Duck
-Carolina Wood Duck
-Feral Mallard
-Short-tailed Albatross (reintroduction)
-Painted Stork
-Oriental Stork (reintroduction)
-Crested Ibis (reintroduction)
-Eurasian Collared Dove
-Warbling White-eye (presumably introduced to areas outside its natural distribution in Japan)
-Javan Myna
-Feral Helmeted Guineafowl
-Feral Turkey
-Feral Chicken
-Copper Pheasant (presumably introduced to areas outside its natural distribution in Japan)
-Feral Chinese Goose (Feral Domestic Swan Goose) (though the photos show geese that are probably hybrids between Chinese Geese and Domestic/Feral Greylag Geese; I don't know whether this is stated in the text)
-Feral Greylag Goose
-Egyptian Goose
-Feral Muscovy Duck
-Carolina Wood Duck
-Feral Mallard
-Short-tailed Albatross (reintroduction)
-Painted Stork
-Oriental Stork (reintroduction)
-Crested Ibis (reintroduction)
-Eurasian Collared Dove
-Warbling White-eye (presumably introduced to areas outside its natural distribution in Japan)
-Javan Myna
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Haliaeetus
Well-Known Member
Hello,
my question could look strange, but do you know self-sustaining Feral Chicken populations?
This bird is extremely common as a farm bird everywhere, but I don't know any free population of Domestic Chickens (I don't take count of their native range in South-East Asia).
I don't know the degree of autonomy of the Japanese "populations", if they really exist.
Maybe in remote islands like in Hawai and French Polynesia ?
my question could look strange, but do you know self-sustaining Feral Chicken populations?
This bird is extremely common as a farm bird everywhere, but I don't know any free population of Domestic Chickens (I don't take count of their native range in South-East Asia).
I don't know the degree of autonomy of the Japanese "populations", if they really exist.
Maybe in remote islands like in Hawai and French Polynesia ?
At least in US, there's populations in Hawaii, several places in Florida, and Huntsville, Texas.
There are many groups of free-living chicken in The Netherlands. It is difficult to know how permanent / self sustaining they are because Dutch excellent bird monitoring programs do not cover them. In any case, urbanized areas of the Netherlands lack foxes or similar predators which could eat these chicken.
In Australia, feral chickens are found on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Christmas Island, Norfolk Island, and possibly Tasmania. They existed on the Capricorn Islands of the Great Barrier Reef in the past, but were eradicated.
I think that there are a few big populations of feral chickens in New Zealand, but I don't know the details well. A feral chicken population in Titirangi, Auckland, was subject to a poisoning incident in 2018. There was a feral chicken population in the vicinity of Lake Horowhenua that grew to a few dozen, probably in part because dogs aren't allowed there, but this population was mostly eradicated or otherwise removed and to my understanding there are very few chickens left there now. Near where I live, there were definitely some seemingly feral chickens breeding in the Upper Hutt area in the mid-2010s, but I don't know whether they are still around.
The book by Thibault & Cibois, "Birds of Eastern Polynesia: A biogeographic Atlas", does include chickens, but this book says that chickens are strongly associated with human habitation in Eastern Polynesia, and it does not name any locations with limited human presence where chickens are thriving.
I think that there are a few big populations of feral chickens in New Zealand, but I don't know the details well. A feral chicken population in Titirangi, Auckland, was subject to a poisoning incident in 2018. There was a feral chicken population in the vicinity of Lake Horowhenua that grew to a few dozen, probably in part because dogs aren't allowed there, but this population was mostly eradicated or otherwise removed and to my understanding there are very few chickens left there now. Near where I live, there were definitely some seemingly feral chickens breeding in the Upper Hutt area in the mid-2010s, but I don't know whether they are still around.
The book by Thibault & Cibois, "Birds of Eastern Polynesia: A biogeographic Atlas", does include chickens, but this book says that chickens are strongly associated with human habitation in Eastern Polynesia, and it does not name any locations with limited human presence where chickens are thriving.
Haliaeetus
Well-Known Member
It's very surprising, perhaps the most surprising place to see wild chickens. I've never heard anything about wild chickens in mainland Europe, where there's a significant human pressure plus a lot of mammalian and avian natural predators.
Yes, in an area of Tampa Florida known as Ybor City (it was once an independent city) there is a self sustaining population of feral chickens. Also, Key West Florida has a stable population.
I did not go through all 28 pages, but Florida has sustaining populations of black caiman, Burmese pythons, anacondas, various iguanas, capybara, agouti, and rhesus macaques.
Muscovy Ducks are all over the place causing displacement of native waterfowl, as are various birds like Monk Parakeets and various other small parrots.
I have seen the iguanas, macaques, capybara, the birds listed , and agouti, but not the snakes.
Muscovy Ducks are all over the place causing displacement of native waterfowl, as are various birds like Monk Parakeets and various other small parrots.
I have seen the iguanas, macaques, capybara, the birds listed , and agouti, but not the snakes.
The Miami area does, as well.
I haven't heard of the anacondas or agoutis, do you have more info?
By the way, where is the best place to look for Capybaras in Florida?
I'm not aware there is any evidence for "sustaining populations" of either anacondas or agoutis. There have been individual animals caught, that is all.
I'd like to see a source for the Black Caiman claim as well.
There are no Black Caimans in Florida, I assumed it was a typo for Spectacled, which have a quite large population in Miami.
The agouti are resident in a couple parts of the state, one in my home county of Hillsborough. In fact, we have a resident population in the swamp area near my neighborhood, many neighbors have seen them over the last year or so - there is LOTS of photographic evidence from my neighborhood on these.
Florida Fish and Wildlife lists the Spectacled Caiman as established:
Spectacled Caiman
I misspoke on anaconda, they only have them as "reported", so although they bring them in fairly regularly they are not listed as established yet.
Capybara are around, the ones I saw (2 adults) were in the Little Manatee River area. I saw them while canoeing to a primitive camping area that is only accessed via the water.
EDIT:
I am an idiot, yes, it is spectacled and not black caiman. I edited this post accordingly.
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Thanks for clarifying, that was my mistake, I edited the last post of mine to reflect this.
So you only have anecdotal evidence for "sustaining populations"?
That page is talking about Spectacled, it makes no mention of Black Caiman.
Super interesting about the agoutis. Do you know what species they are or how long they've been there?
Pretty much, I will own up that I should have clarified in my initial post. But rodents have a way of establishing themselves fairly quickly and sustainably. But yes, anecdotal evidence is not the same as scientific, I understand.
Yes, I edited my post accordingly - that was my mistake.
Red-rumped is what is around my area, I have no idea how many really or for exactly how long. People have been seeing them consistently for a couple of years and regularly for the last year or so.
Another interesting and little known mammal introduction in Florida: the Mexican Gray Squirrel.
The conurbation of Amsterdam-Rotterdam-The Hague-Utrecht in the Netherlands has almost no predators on a whooping 8000km2 area. It is very rich, so no human hunting and essentially no feral dogs, lacks forests, eliminating the usual woodland predators, is densely crossed by roads and motorways, so most mammals get ran over, and has groundwater at a ground level, eliminating burrowing foxes.
There are free-running domestic chicken, ring-necked and Alexandrine parakeets, plenty of free-living ornamental ducks and geese and escaped exotic waterfowl, often hybridizing with each other. It looks sometimes like a petting zoo going loose.