GARDENING WITH HELP FROM THE BIRDS

     We are saying goodbye to many of our land birds as they depart for warmer climes.  But sea birds continue to help provide nourishment for us and throughout the entire world all seasons of the year.  In the 1800s the world’s shipping lanes were very busy, but the huge oil tankers were not among them.  Nor did we have to cope with oil soaked birds that may have landed in tailing ponds or on other beaches and lakes. 

     Instead sea birds were providing our soils with a valuable fertilizer called guano that is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus and which now is largely replaced by commercial fertilizers.  Sea birds such as pelicans, gannets, gulls, petrels, penguins and cormorants are very busy checking out warm rest areas in rainless coastal regions, or on islands where these birds gather together in the Chincha Islands off the coast of Peru.  In the early 1800s the deposits on some of these small islands were more than 100 feet deep.  Many deposits are still found on South Pacific islands.  There are large deposits of bat guano in caves in New Zealand.  Farmers were able to raise organic foods for over a century.

     But other inland birds are active and helpful as well and we have some inland forest species that are the size of chickens, chiefly in Central and South America.  One wild turkey species called guans has glossy back plumage and is usually dark green, crested in white, with a slate blue throat.  It survives chiefly on insects and berries and ranges as far north as Texas.

Many of them roost in tall trees and more kinds of geese, ducks and related varieties have been found in Canada as our climate warms up.

     One easily corrected problem with the vessels that brought guano in the l800s was its potent fragrance.  Too many harmful fumes emanated from the hold below decks could cause breathing difficulties for the sailors.  Large size print was inscribed on all sides of the vessel.  “SHIP HIGH IN TRANSIT,” as the crew enlarged the size of the first letter in each word.