Everything about Eugene Schieffelin totally explained
Eugene Schieffelin (b. New York 1827; d. Rhode Island 1906) belonged to the
New York Genealogical and Biographical Society
and the
New York Zoological Society. He was responsible for introducing the
starling (
Sturnus vulgaris) to
North America, where it has become a serious pest.
Starling release
In
1890, He released 60 starlings into New York City’s
Central Park. He did the same with another 40 birds in
1891. It is said (though there's no evidence to support this) that his motivation was to allow New Yorkers to see all the birds mentioned in the plays of
William Shakespeare; more likely he was merely trying to control the same pests that had been annoying him thirty years earlier, when he sponsored the introduction of the
House Sparrow to North America.
Until that time (1890),
starlings were not native to
North America. Schieffelin imported the starlings from
England. Scientists estimate that descendants from those two original released flocks now number at more than
200 million residing in the
United States.
The
starlings' wildly successful spread is believed to have come at the expense of many native birds that compete with the
starling for nest holes in trees.
His attempts to introduce
bullfinches,
chaffinches,
nightingales, and
skylarks were not successful.
Reasons for release
Schieffelin belonged to the Acclimation Society of North America, a group with the seemingly laudable, if misguided, aim of aiding the exchange of plants and animals from one part of the world to another. In the
19th Century, such acclimatization societies were fashionable and supported by the scientific knowledge and beliefs of that era, as the effect that non-native species could have on the local ecosystem wasn't yet known.
Compared to contemporary scientific thought, Schieffelin’s 19th century actions may now seem naïve and even foolish. European starlings are now considered an
invasive species in the
USA. In the politically charged arena of
genetically modified organisms, Schieffelin’s actions are cited by opponents of GMO’s as an example of what can go wrong if an experimental organism escapes from a laboratory and radiates throughout the environment.
Trivia
Some have speculated that his ambition was to introduce every bird mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare into the United States, though this is almost certainly not true.
Shakespeare’s sole reference to the starling appears in King Henry IV, part 1 (Act 1, scene 3): “Nay, I’ll have a starling shall be taught to speak nothing but ‘Mortimer.’” (External Link)Further Information
Get more info on 'Eugene Schieffelin'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://eugene_schieffelin.totallyexplained.com">Eugene Schieffelin Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
