The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 62, No. 35, Ed. 1 Monday, March 17, 1975 Page: 4 of 8
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Rice tree trimming gives Shadyside the birds
by DEBBIE DAVIES
Rice may be successful in its
efforts to eliminate the annual
problems with birds roosting on
campus, but only at the expense
of surrounding neighborhoods.
When the birds are forced off
campus, like students, they
don't go far; currently, the
Shadyside area north of campus
is heavily invested with birds
that presumably once roosted at
Rice.
The current tree-trimming
efforts are likely the cause of
this movement of birds. Dr. Dan
Johnson of the Biology Depart-
ment, began studying the bird
problem last year, and his Popu-
lation Ecology- Seminar came up
with some suggestions gleaned
both from the campus and
nationwide. The ideas were first
put into effect this October
when trees at the Physics lab.
RMC courtyard, and west of the
Chem lab were trimmed of dense
inner branches.
Dr. Alexander Dessler of the
Campus Business Office, who
allocated funds for the project,
pointed oul that the trimming
was beneficial to the health of
the irees, as well as making them
unsuitable for roosting. In all, 46
trees were trimmed, with the
area at the Physics Building used
as a control — half trimmed and
half left alone.
This trimming has been more
effective than expected; Dr. Dan
was wondering how much spill-
over there would be from the
natural trees into the untrimmed
ones. Instead, the entire area has
been unaffected by birds, as well
as removing the flock that
roosted in the single tree east of
Anderson Hall. The same has
held true at the Chem Lab; the
trees in back and at Herman
Brown were left alone, and are
uninhabited.
Nevertheless, the trimming
will be carried to completion in
the course of the next six
months. Earlier this semester,
the trees in front of Jones South
were trimmed, amid many com-
plaints that the trees were being
'butchered'. But that area is now
free of birds, and those that
remain are confined to the trees
near the Abercrombie parking
lot. The drive leading to Brown
House, Jones South and the
Hackerman's is now being
trimmed to make that area safe
for all. When this is completed,
the chimes that have been
keeping the birds away rather
successfully since spring break
will be silenced.
This summer the remainder
of the campus will be trimmed —
Wiess lot, Jones tennis court, the
Men's Quad area, and the library
and Chapel area. "I do not think
there will be any birds in the
populated areas of campus next
year," Dr. Dan concluded.
Last year there were about
472,000 birds on campus. This
year peak estimates range from
700,000 to 1.24 million. The
lower estimate is from measuring
the number of grams of guano
deposited on campus. One
gram/bird/night is a good esti-
Ronde/et Schedule
Friday, April 4
5:30 — 6:30pm All-school picnic
&30 — until Carnival
Saturday, April 5
Afternoon — Beer-Bike Race
9pm — Formal dance
Sunday, April 6
Afternoon — Songfest.
Night — Off-campus concert: Wheatfield and Jay Smith
mate. The higher figure is ob-
tained by sending 30 pairs of
students to the circumference of
a circle at a IV2 mile radius from
Allen Center. These students set
up landmarks and count the
number of birds flying between
the two points toward the cam-
pus. This estimate, naturally,
includes all the birds in the Rice
area, where the first is merely
the campus population.
It is difficult, however, to
make comparisons, since peak
estimates occurred at different
times of the year. Last year, the
population remained rather
steady throughout the winter, so
that the March 1st peak was
representative of the entire
winter; no birds had left. This
year the peak was recorded the
first of February', and some birds
came late and left early. Dr.
Dan's theory is that the birds
check the campus out during
October and November, transfer
from the North Loop roost
(which is slowly being destroyed
by construction) to Rice be-
tween the 18th and 30th of
December, and stay until mid-
March.
This year they were first seen
on October 10, and the North
Loop roost was discovered on
the 12th. By November 12 they
were visiting the campus and
leaving each day at Sunset, and
Dr. Dan "got really paranoid".
He banded cowbirds and
grackles from the Loop with
green streamers and began
looking for them on campus.
They have never been seen. On
December 6 the birds arrived in
earnest, and the population
peaked the 30th, when the Loop
roost had become totally de-
serted. The total then was about
400,000, and through the end of
January more birds arrived from
farther north. This second group
has already left Rice.
Johnson sums up his theory
by saying that, "every year
population builds through
December and remains constant
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from January to mid-March.
Some years an additional group
arrives late and leaves early. This
group is determined by the tem-
perature in the Oklahoma-
Arkansas belt. According to a
Fish and Wildlife spokesman,
there are 'hundreds ofthousands
of birds' along the Canadian
River near Muskogee which
could be pushed south by cold
fronts."
Until the birds leave,
probably by the first of April,
Dr. Dan's students will continue
their study of the birds.
When the owls which Dr. Dan
was raising were released, three
flew away and the fourth died.
This was due to an unfortunate
circumstance. On the night of
the release, a student saw an owl
kill a cowbird in mid-air and
devour it. It was assumed that
this was one of 'our' owls, so no
extra food was provided. It has
since been determined that this
was the wild owl that had been
visiting the campus. Two other
owls remain on the roof of the
Biology Building; no date of
release has been determined.
Rice People's Crossword Puzzle
1
2.
3
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■
17
1
Xo
n
mr
by ANNE DINGUS and
DEBORAH HOMERSTAD
ACROSS
1. Women's college.
5. Mathematical rhythm.
8. Paragon.
13. " is Blue."
14. Behold, underwear!
16 . my ears in...
17. Aid's companion.
18. Climbing plants.
19. Approach.
20. Spring festival.
23. And: L.
24. Book of Bible. 0
25. Friend: Fr.
26. Exist.
27. Savant.
29. Open a bottle.
33. Home or fast.
36. You: Sp.
38 . mode.
39. Former Texas President.
44. Metal.
45. Nay.
46. Tillers.
47. Wrist .
50. "Duck ."
52. Behold!
53. Abet's companion.
55. Italian city.
57. Drinkers' group.
59. Local catacombs.
65. Half: pref.
66. At Christmas: Fr.
67. Platform.
68. Ireland.
69 . Dame.
70. French river.
71. Moses' brother.
72. Numbers: abb.
73.«English professor, et. al.
DOWN
1. Sound loudly.
2. Automaton.
3. Kiln.
4. Sexual fantasy. ,
5. "Greater no man. .
6. Death notice.
7. Enlarged.
9 . Donuts.
10. Fencing term.
11. What sunbather wants.
12. English title.
14. Moves rhythmically: mus.
15. On the ocean.
21. Where: Fr.
22. Large bird.
26. Green' .
28. Excrement.
30. Silhouetted locket.
31. Winged.
32. Rotates a camera.
33. Precipitation rare in Houston.
34. "Tora, , Tora!"
35., Durnbass: abb.
37. Preacher's kid: abb.
40. Bridge bid: abb.
41. Lovey-dovey tennis players.
42. "What?"
43. Burger Factory.
48 . party.
49. Successful play.
51. Chicken: Fr.
54. Wierum or Topazio.
56. Manganese: abb.
57. A row.
58. Derrieres.
59. Rice Players' subject.
60. Greek goddess.
61. Asian ruler.
62. Soon: poet.
63. Mr. (Bond enemy).
64. Duke, duke, duke, duke of .
Solution to last Monday's puzzle:
the rice thresher, monday, march 17, 1975 — page 4
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Brewton, Gary. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 62, No. 35, Ed. 1 Monday, March 17, 1975, newspaper, March 17, 1975; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245230/m1/4/: accessed June 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.