Madam, - I read with interest A.E. Eldon's letter of August 9th, expecting it to be yet another endorsement of the policy to reintroduce our lost birds of prey, eradicated by gamekeepers mostly in Victorian times. I was surprised to discover an opposite viewpoint, based on the author's concern about the destruction of songbirds by recently reintroduced red kites.
"I found a small pile of thrush feathers and the remains of a vomited meal of worms and insects left by the victim," he writes. Poor thrush, but is this the norm and is it fair to blame the kite?
Despite its raptorial capability, furnished as it is with hooked beak and (weak) talons, the evidence points to the kite being much more of a scavenger, doing a farm-friendly job of clearing carrion (and thus potential disease) from the countryside. However, kites kill prey occasionally too and they are doubtless indifferent to the tunefulness of their quarry. The predator-prey relationship is an ecological fundamental and the poet was surely correct in describing nature as "red in tooth and claw".
Mr Eldon might well have found a pile of shattered snail shells beside a rock near the thrush feathers. Thrushes are specialists in opening and devouring snails - not too nice if you are interested in protecting snails. I hope this counter-comment is not seen as glib. We all have favourites in nature - songbirds, with their capacity to touch us emotionally, being universal candidates.
Rachel Carson is mentioned as a champion of songbirds. Her seminal book Silent Spring emphasises this, but hardly at the expense of predators. She was at pains to publicise the harm caused to nature by agricultural technology but her thesis was derived from a deep understanding of natural balance.
Ecological imbalance has been a consequence of predator removal, wherever it has occurred in the world. In island circumstances, like our own, where natural recolonisation is less likely than on a mainland, the imbalance is even more acute. Historical and archaeological evidence shows that there once were at least 12 birds of prey in Ireland. Until recent reintroductions we had only half that number.
The larger, more influential species - eagles, kites, goshawks, marsh harriers, etc - were simply wiped out where they came in conflict with human interests. It could be argued that the over-abundance of magpies, grey crows and wood pigeons is a modern-day consequence of this, but our natural mix is certainly out of kilter as a result.
Reintroductions (as distinct from inappropriate, unwarranted introductions) are, for that reason alone, justified. There are other, economic reasons besides, such as tourist potential, aesthetic pleasure, etc.
I empathise with A.E. Eldon's affection for birdsong; I annually lead a dawn chorus event in Ballyvaughan to celebrate the phenomenon. However, I believe (though I don't have facts to hand) that cats do a lot more harm to songbirds than do birds of prey. Certainly, to suggest outlawing kites on the basis of their predating the occasional songbird would be to do our ecology and indeed ourselves considerable disservice. - Yours, etc,
GORDON D'ARCY,
Tigh-na-Riasc,
Kilcolgan,
Co Galway.