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Purple
Martins Illegally Harassed By Shreveport Hospital
and Wildlife Nuisance Company
By
Terry Anne Suchma
Edward J. Suchma
Dateline:
Shreveport, LA
In
late July, 2003, a large medical facility, Christus
Schumpert Hospital Center, located in Shreveport, LA,
hired Avian Flyaway, Inc., a Texas avian nuisance company,
to rid the hospital campus of a large Purple Martin
roost. Spurred on by “health concerns,” the
hospital initiated an aggressive program to “relocate” the
Purple Martins after hosting the martins for the last
three summers.
The
Harassment Begins
Beginning
7/30/03, Avian Flyaway, Inc. initiated a hard-hitting
program to move the martin roost with the extensive
use of pyrotechnic devices, emergency sirens, canon
booming, and thrashing of the area trees. The pyrotechnics
involved were Bird Bangers, Screaming Sirens and types
of shell shockers that sound like striking mortars.
Any bird, or numbers of birds, in the path of exploding
shells would certainly have lost their lives, or in
the least, their hearing. Eyewitnesses observed these
shells being shot at the flock in the sky as well as
birds in the trees.
In
addition to the pyrotechnics, Avian Flyaway employees
used 12-ft. cane poles to thrash lower branches of
the trees where there were perching martins and short
sticks to beat the trunks of trees. Employees also
used high-powered spotlights to further unnerve the
martins inside the trees.
There
are many concerns voiced by eyewitnesses as well as
the US Fish & Wildlife Service (US F&WS). Because
of these concerns and the condition of the dead birds,
there is an ongoing investigation in the deaths of
martins found at the Christus Schumpert Hospital roosting
site.
Recent
Roost History
For
several seasons in the last decade some businesses
have considered martins a nuisance in various areas
of Shreveport near the Red River. A few seasons ago,
martins roosted near the Convention/Casino area on
the Red River. What casino folks did there was to install
canopies for their customers to walk under as they
entered and exited the casino. The casinos also hosed
down the boardwalk areas daily. The birds eventually
moved on.
In
following seasons, the birds roosted on the grounds
of the Barnswell Botanical Gardens. The gardens hosed
down the areas daily and also severely pruned back
the roost trees. The birds did not return.
In both situations, the Casino and Convention and the botanical gardens
officials tried to deal with the martin roost in a legal and ethical
way. However, Christus Schumpert Hospital officials did not.
Dr.
Charles Lyon, a retina specialist and surgeon on staff
at the hospital, educated hospital officials on Purple
Martins as a protected wildbird species during the
roost’s stopover last summer (2002). In a Shreveport
Times article, dated August 11, 2002, the hospital
appeared to embrace the martins in a public relations
coup for the hospital when the headline read, “Hospital
Welcomes Purple Martins.”
[Online, you can locate this article at: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/html/C55BE74C-B73B-44CE-8309-EB5B06EE1D58.shtml]
This
year, however, the hospital/Purple Martin relationship
did a 180-degree about-face. Christus Schumpert’s
Public Relations Director, Sally Croom, disseminated
misleading and erroneous information in statements
to the Press as the hospital tried to win public favor
regarding their assault on the roosting martins. Much
of the misrepresentations appeared to be tailored to
the narrow views of the hospital and presented the
hospital in a good public light, while at the same
time, represented the martins as dirty, stench-smelling
and diseased-ridden starlings.
In
an article appearing the week of July 27?Aug. 2, the
hospital sources erroneously stated that the birds
at the hospital were hundreds of starlings when hospital
officials knew well that, in reality, the birds were
Purple Martins, a protected migratory species. Presumably,
they believed the public would either read or hear
this information and be ambivalent to starlings without
further inquiry into the fact that the roost was actually
a Purple Martin roost and migratory birds were dying.
Hospital
Spin and Missteps
An
article 8/08/03 in the Shreveport Times describes how
quickly the tide changed. [Online, you can locate this
second article at: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/html/7996AE2A-5C90-4323-A4B4-C7A14B291EFA.shtml]
In
this article, it would appear that Ms. Croom attempts
to avoid an unpleasant scenario and public relations
nightmare for the hospital when responding to the press
about the causes for all the noise and raucous wildlife
deterrents at the hospital during the early days of
martin harassment.
In
the hospital’s endeavor to move or relocate the
Purple Martins, it is believed that the hospital made
many bad decisions and disseminated half-truths through
their media relations department (pubic relations).
These half-truths, in turn, deceived the Shreveport
public. In addition to inaccurate and unfair reporting
of the roost situation to the media, Christus Schumpert
Hospital officials contracted the wildlife nuisance
company to rid the hospital campus of these “pesky
starlings.” The work of this company resulted
in dubious, aggressive and dangerous relocation tactics
and the deaths of numerous martins.
As
the public outcry became more active and vocal with
the actions of the hospital, Ms. Croom changed the
hospital story. While she returned many emails of those
who wrote to both her and the hospital, she replied
to some that she was mislead. When responding to the
fact that the birds were protected Purple Martins and
not starlings, she said, “I misspoke because I
was misinformed. I apologize."
Dead
PMs Found
In
another, and, perhaps, more serious, misstatement,
Ms. Croom, again acting in behalf of the hospital,
continued to battle the accusations that there were
no dead birds at the hospital site as a result of the
ruthless harassment. She held steadfast to this position
despite public photographs on the Internet.
At
this time, in an unusual reversal of roles and appearing
now to educate the public on roosts, hospital media
relations reported to the media and public that there
are always dead birds found the day after a night of
bird roosting. It is important to note that on two
occasions during the roosting period, a local resident
walked the hospital grounds in the mornings, after
two quiet nights of no harassment for the martins,
and no dead birds were found.
While
it is true that dead birds are sometimes evident at
such large roosts, the birds picked up at Christus
Schumpert were not all birds that naturally expired.
The exploding gunpowder in the pyrotechnic effects
or from the shell shocking projectiles may have killed
some birds. Shooting any projectile into a direct area
of a small, 54-gram bird will most certainly be deadly
to the bird or birds. In large roosts it is like shooting
fish in a barrel. The dead martins could also be birds
that, when shocked into flight, again and again, collided
with each other, the trees and the nearby buildings.
Naturally
expired birds would not fall in multiples from the
sky or trees to the streets or near the entrance to
the ER. Neither would they be bloody, mangled, maimed
and injured. Typical birds that expire at roost sites
are mostly found the next morning underneath the trees
where they roost (if not scavenged by opossums and
raccoons) and do not exhibit gory wounds on their bodies
as the photos online depict.
The
Hospital Area
It
is also important to know something of the area. The
roosting area is very confined by multi-story buildings.
When the birds are shocked up and into the air, bystanders
agree that there is little open space into which the
birds can escape, a fact to which no Christus Schumpert
Hospital or Avian Flyaway official gave much consideration.
In addition to the pyrotechnics and general stress
of the harassment, this tight and confined area where
the martins were terribly harassed may have also contributed
to the birds' deaths.
Emotional Issue /Health Concerns
The
most emotional issue that Christus Schumpert PR office
presented was an issue of health concerns. While the
hospital protested that there was hysteria on the Internet
about the hospital incident, hospital media relations,
too, played the hysteria card in overly frightening
locals about health concerns of West Nile and histoplasmosis.
While it has been publicly noted there were defecations on sidewalks,
cars and signs, a wildlife expert at the scene described the excrement
as tolerable.
With
several years’ history of a roost at the hospital,
what have been the incidents of health problems related
to the bird droppings? Over the period of the 2003
roost?
This
should be known by now, especially by a hospital. We
have heard none. According to Dr. Charles Lyon and
other medical experts with which he consulted, there
is no scientific evidence showing a correlation in
the increased incidence of histoplasmosis in any individual
with compromised immune systems that have also had
exposure to excessive bird droppings.
As
a retina specialist and surgeon, Charles Lyon sees
a lot of histoplasmosis cases. He tells us that it
is a fungal infection and many of us in the US, specifically
in the warm southern regions, get the diseased spores
through breathing. We are all exposed to histoplasmosis.
He says that 80% of the population will test positive
to it. Because he is in a medical environment, he has
spoken to medical experts who say that there is not
definite proof of contracting histoplasmosis by walking
through the bird droppings.
Charles
also explains that while there is a smell associated
with the roost due to the hot and humid conditions
of a Louisiana summer, the smell is not as bad as the
stench that hospital media relations would have the
public believe.
As
for West Nile Virus, Purple Martins are not the sentinel
bird for spreading the disease. While there are cases
of West Nile documented in the Purple Martin species,
the occurrence of it is extremely low of the 135 bird
species reported. It is very important to know that
birds do not carry the disease; it is mosquitoes that
spread the disease to humans and other mammals. It
is well-known that the Christus Schumpert Hospital
has an excellent mosquito abatement program in action.
Recap
Avian Flyaway, Inc.
This
nuisance company’s arsenal included Bird Bangers
and Screamer Sirens (both shot from pistols and contain
gun powder), cannon booming and emergency sirens. The
use of teenagers on 8/03/03 in this work should also
be suspect. A job, that involves protected wildlife
and wildlife laws, is for responsible adults?not for
14-year olds.
And,
of course, it still has not been demonstrated yet that
everyone had proper permits. It has been said, and
we don't know for sure, that the nuisance folks had
local permits for their firearms, but did they need
and have proper US F&WS permits to rid the birds?
David
vs. Goliath
What
the local martin advocates in Shreveport are fighting
is a 2000-pound hospital gorilla that has a great deal
of money, influence and connections. They are underdogs
fighting against the corporate hospital, newspaper
and television station. As one person pointed out,
Christus Schumpert Hospital is one of the best advertising
customers of the Shreveport Times and local KSLA-TV.
Martins Should Have Been Deterred Early In June
The
situation for us was not to save hospital campus environment
for the martins, but to try to protect the mostly juvenile
birds at a critical time from the abuse of the aggressive
harassment. We feel there are viable ways to change
the roost location. The roost, as Ms. Croom and hospital
officials admit, had been there three to four seasons.
They had history on their side. They saw it happen
in the past as it was happening this year. They waited
to the end when martin numbers peaked to over one hundred
thousand martins before hiring the nuisance folks.
It is reasonable to consider that if you wait until
the end of July, when peak numbers have amassed, why
not wait another ten days as the number of birds would
dwindle away as they naturally migrated?
Last
year, without harassment, the birds departed on 8/07/02.
This year, even with the harassment program, which
was halted Aug. 3, when a local law protecting songbirds
was enforced, the birds departed five days later on
Aug. 8, their normal departure time.
The
hospital appears to be taking credit for the success
of the birds’ departure. The hospital spin to
the media now on their departure (after a quiet night
of no harassment) was that the birds were successfully
relocated when the fact is that the birds just migrated.
Consequences
By
delaying their actions and having no pre-plan, the
hospital contributed to the deaths of many martins.
By not reacting sooner in the roosting cycle, the hospital resorted to
misleading the public and chanced a catastrophic public and financial
PR nightmare and sparked a USF&WS investigation into the circumstances.
There are options, but the hospital officials did not make a thorough
attempt to contact various local, state or federal wildlife experts,
Purple Martins conservation organizations or local Purple Martin landlords.
By not doing so, they provoked the ire of a martin public, nationwide.
Christus Schumpert Hospital along with Avian Flyaway also risked the
increase in fecal matter at the site. It is a fact that every time the
roost was shocked into the air, a great percentage of the birds lighten
themselves for flight by dropping fecal sacs. So, it would appear that
the hospital unwittingly made fecal matter worse for themselves.
Acceptable
Alternatives Needed
Next
year, if the Purple Martins return to the Christus
Schumpert roosting site, the hospital needs to have
a well-thought out plan to legally relocate the birds
earlier in late June, before the martins bond to this
site for roosting. This will prevent the numbers from
growing. The birds will seek another place to roost,
hopefully a better and more acceptable place for them.
Judicious spraying of the birds with water early on
in the roosting cycle may be more humane, and, ultimately,
more effective in deterring the beginning of the roost
in late June. Making it an undesirable place, early
in the roosting cycle may help to break the bond the
birds develop there.
If
the birds decide to return next season, then the hospital
needs to either direct the traffic to a different hospital
entrance or build a temporary entrance covering for
people who enter and exit during the later evening
hours when the martins come in at night. Although the
hospital ruled out cutting some trees or pruning them
in the affected area, the hospital should reconsider
these options.
Wildlife
Director for the Wildlife Services of Dept. of Agriculture,
Louisiana Region, Dwight LeBlanc, has advised that
trees on the campus could be trimmed and pruned from
within without drastic pruning and tree disfigurement.
This would be a discouragement to martins that want
to roost there. There may also be, LeBlanc told us,
a type of fog that is legal and has been used to deter
Canada Geese. It may dispel any birds that want to
roost there.
A
Need for More Concern And Respect for Nature And
The Environment
Instead
of covering up, playing down their role and using media
spin to support their narrow view in this situation,
the hospital needs to find compromise with Nature as
wildbirds continue to have fewer natural roosting places.
Urban sprawl and human activities are forcing wildlife
into smaller and smaller quarters all the time. The
hospital needs to seek counsel and input from those
expert in the bird interest not those supposedly expert
in the bird harassment business and seek safe, ethical
and legal means to dispel such a large roost.
Purple
Martins Have No Voice. Someone Has To Speak For Them!
At
The Purple Martin Society, we are sympathetic to the
plight and situation of any hospital or any public
place in this regard. We prefer that the Purple Martins
relocate to another, safer, more acceptable roosting
area where they will not be harassed and stressed.
We want them in a place where they will not garner
the public’s disdain. And, we want any relocation
effort done in an ethical and legal manner. Purple
Martins have no voice. Someone has to speak for them
and protect them from harm.
We
know having a Purple Martin roost in a populated area
today is not a good thing for everyone or the martins;
having a roost on hospital grounds is worse. We understand
that. We also understand that while it may not be illegal
to harass migratory birds, the tactics that result
in a horrible death for martins and attempted cover-up
by big corporate money is also not a good thing and
should be thoroughly investigated. This is what the
local martin mavens seek.
Hopefully,
there will be a win-win solution for both the birds
and the hospital. We and other martin-interested folks
will work toward that goal and we know that others
will also.
Enforcement
of a local Shreveport ordinance on 8/08/03 stopped
the harassment and the birds are protected for now,
but the future is another thing. The local Purple Martin
folks should band together in a group for the future.
It is a possibility that lawyers will change this ordinance
or breach it for a permit next year.
Populous
southern cities, such as Shreveport, have been built
on the banks of major rivers, lakes and coastlines.
These same areas have historically been vital habitats
to growing numbers of migrating birds for centuries
as places of respite and areas in which to forage.
These areas are abundantly rich in insect life that
Purple Martins and other migrating birds need to bulk
up their fat reserves before exiting the continent
on migration. In the last three summers, we have had
increasing reports of various cities in these areas
that have become less tolerant of these natural phenomena,
known as roosts.
An
important goal in the Shreveport Roost situation was
to prevent other cities with roosts from using the
Shreveport incident as precedence in allowing similar
tactics to prevail in an attempt to relocate roosting
sites.
Some
believe that under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, it
may not be illegal to harass protected wildbirds in
certain circumstances. However, to harass them in such
an aggressive and deadly manner should be. The US Fish & Wildlife
Service (USF&WS) is now investigating this situation
to determine whether or not these tactics are prohibited
under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Of course, some
will interpret the laws in regards to pursue and take
and if the spotlights and pyrotechnics are legitimate
tools to use. However, one would think that using these
same tools as weapons rather than deterrents would
result in a different interpretation.
In addition to the photos of dead Purple Martins appearing on our Round
Table Conference website, the video taken on 8/01 by one of the bystanders
will bear witness to the US Fish & Wildlife Service what the true
events were, innocent or not, true or false. Video of the Avian Flyaway
employees shooting the fireworks-launching pistols at the birds in the
sky and into the roost trees and the finding of severely injured, ailing
and dead birds will be evidence in determining if federal migratory laws
have been broken.
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