DISAPPEARING LEGENDARY BIRDS OF AMERICAN STORY, SONG AND ART....

 

This beautiful book, published by the US conservation society, shows the rapid and shocking demise of many of the birds listed within, that were,  at that time,  listed as very common birds of gardens, suburbs and city parks.  At least five of the species illustrated, no longer nest or live in large areas of their former range, in fact many are not even found in whole states, where they were once common residents,  nor either as even vagrants or transients. They are completely absent


I PREDICT, THAT IF DRASTIC MEASURES ARE NOT TAKEN IMMEDIATELY, SUCH AS TO COLLECT , SAVE, BREED AND RELEASE CERTAIN ENDANGERED SPECIES , THAT SEVERAL TYPES OF BIRDS SUCH AS THE COMMON NIGHTHAWK AND WHIP-POOR-WILL ,SHALL MOST DEFINITELY BE EXTINCT WELL WITHIN 25 TO 30 YEARS FROM NOW.

Some of the most well known and beloved birds of America, are in danger, and a large number of them are even on the verge of extinction, due to many factors, most of them still unknown.  My list includes some of the most famous birds in the history of the United States, most of which people today only recognize by old outdated bird books, photos, story's and songs.  The Whip-poor-will, an over the top mystery of the night, and often celebrated in our folklore, has disappeared by as much as 95 percent from its former range in north-eastern America.  The governments census of birds, is sorely archaic, and needs to be revised immediately, if we are to take measures to save these native avian treasures of our country. Once we have lost a species, it is final and devastating to our native flora and fauna. I have compiled an initial list of ten familiar birds (formerly), of our gardens, parks, farms and wild areas. There are many reasons for the rapid demise of all of these birds, such as habitat destruction, man-made pollution, competition from non-native species and the rapid, selfish devastating suburbanization of America, but not are all known, and need to be investigated now. Who can forget (yet ever recall actually seeing), our Bluebird of happiness, our enigmatic spirit of the roof-tops, the common Nighthawk, the instantly identifiable dashing Red Headed Woodpecker, and the many other loved birds of our memories?  As a lifelong naturalist, I spent all of my early years, and current years, exploring the forests and fields around me, in awe and respect of all the magic that exists in our world.  Nature has been an incredibly healing power for me all of my life, and now it is time for us to heal the nature, (the environment) around us that we have neglected , used and abused. We can not survive without it, yet it can do very well or even much better without us. 



ENDANGERED BIRDS ......

PURPLE MARTIN ......
CHIMNEY SWIFT ......
WHIP-POOR-WILL ......
EASTERN BLUEBIRD ......
RED HEADED WOODPECKER ......
COMMON NIGHT-HAWK ......
MEADOWLARK ......
LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE ......
BOBWHITE ......
GROUSE (RUFFED AND SPRUCE) ......





A PERSONAL ENTRY ......

 As a born conservationist, I have many special memories of my Great Lakes Nordic homeland, but not all my fondest memories take place in the wild. One of my most magical experiences took place right in New York City. In May of 1999, I was spending an evening renting movies with friends. After everyone went to sleep, I remained awake in my window-side bed, on the top floor of an old five story building. It was an unusually cool, clear night for the city. I could make out Ursa Major, Cassiopeia, and the North Star above. The scent of bourbon roses and apple blossoms wafted up with the cool breeze from the churchyard below. I drifted off briefly, and awoke to the echoing sound of a robin, serenading the night from the rose hedge below, along with two mourning doves that were cooing softly from a window ledge. I was caught up in the moment when I suddenly became aware of the reverberating calls of two common nighthawks orbiting the sky around me. The night chorus had begun, and I was wrapped up in it. The nighthawks sailed, fluttered, and dove like giant moths all around the silent building, and I could barely make out their silhouettes in the faint crescent moonlight. I had always been fascinated with the nocturnal world, and its enigmatic spirits like whip-poor-wills and night hawks, so I was enraptured watching them, as they rode the night sky, sometimes coming as close as a few feet from me. It was as if my window bed was a small projection booth in the sky, and I was watching and listening to this midnight symphony and scenario unfold, only for me to witness while the whole city slept. I was absolutely lost in a trance from the secretness of this micro other world from the other side of midnight. It seemed to be a separate entity from the city, as elusive as a will-o-the-wisp, coming to life only in the dead of night, then disappearing the hours before dawn. I do not even remember falling asleep. All of the audio and visual elements remain in my mind to this day. The robin. The nighthawks. The apple tree and roses. And the luminous galaxy above it all with the Manhattan skyline glittering in the background like a royal crown of gems and jewels. Sadly night hawks no longer breed in the city and surrounding area, theyre only a beautiful memory now, long gone. That night was true magic from a true chapter in the ongoing tale of an urban naturalist.

 FRITZ VON LUDWIGSLUST   (Circa May 1999)




Copyright @ 2014 by Fritz Von Ludwigslust.  All Rights Reserved.