Introduced Birds of Illinois

Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus), Greater Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus cupido), Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), and Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) are all native to Illinois, but native populations have been supplemented to a greater or lesser extent by introductions or reintroductions, as described here (excerpts):

• Ruffed Grouse in NW Illinois may represent a remnant native population or wild dispersals from Wisconsin or Iowa. A very small population in Pope County may be the result of late 1950’s or early 1960’s releases of wild-trapped birds. All other populations in Union and Alexander county or extreme western Jo Daviess County are the results of wild-trapped birds released during the period 1982-94 and are not considered established.
  
  
• During the summers of 1991-98 Greater Prairie-Chickens from out-of-state were introduced into Illinois’ only remaining populations in Jasper and Marion counties.
  
  
• The native Wild Turkey population in Illinois was extirpated in the early 1900’s. Turkeys were first reintroduced in the Shawnee Forest in 1959 from out-of-state stock. Once established there, Illinois birds have been and continue to be introduced to unpopulated locations throughout the state.
  
  
• Peregrine Falcon was extirpated as a breeding species; the current breeding population is reintroduced.

Nine other species are known from established in Illinois solely as a result of human introductions: Mute Swan (Cygnus olor), Gray Partridge (Perdix perdix), Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), Rock Pigeon (Columba livia), Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto), Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus), European Starling (Sturnus vulgarus), House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus), and House Sparrow (Passer domesticus).

Source:
Illinois Ornithological Society. No date. Birds of Illinois.
http://www.illinoisbirds.org/illinois_list.html

Introduced Birds of Britain

In writing about The History of Britains Birds in the September 2002 issue of Birds of Britain, Steve Portugal briefly discussed the history of bird introductions in that country:

Mans main influence has been in his tendency to introduce foreign species, either for commercial, shooting or ornamental purposes, and it's easy to forget which species are native and those which are not. The first species to be introduced into the wild is thought to be the Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) before 1886. From the thirteenth to the eighteenth century they were the property of the crown, assigned to others by license and marked with distinguishing features but not confined. The Canada and Egyptian Geese were introduced around the same time, thought to be 1678. It's not clear whether they were introduced as a food source or for ornamental purposes, but introductions were successful and the species are still present today.

Pheasants and Partridges are a group of birds that have had a wide range of species introduced both for ornamental purposes and sport. The Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) was brought over by the Norman's in the eleventh century and soon dispersed around the country, being introduced to parts of Wales, Scotland and Ireland in the late sixteenth century. By the early nineteenth century they had become the most important game bird. In 1673 Charles the second released a number of Red-legged Partridges (Alectoris rufa) at Windsor, brought over from France with the purpose of increasing the targets for guns. However, whilst the introduction was a success, the bird did not live up to its sporting expectations, as it has a tendency to run for long distances as opposed to taking flight! The Golden Pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus) introduced in the 1830's and the Lady Amherst Pheasant (Chrysolophus amherstiae) around 1930, were released purely for ornamental purposes. Both species have small but stable populations, their sedentary nature preventing any further spread. Other species introduced include Little Owl (Athene noctua) in 1870, Gadwall (Anas strepera) in 1850 and Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) in 1950.

What Accounts for Introduction Success?

In a letter published in Nature, Blackburn and Duncan (2001) showed that the likelihood of bird introductions being successful is determined by abiotic environmental factors at the release site. An excerpt from the abstract:

using a global data set of historical bird introductions, [the authors] . . . show that the pattern of avian introduction success is not consistent with the biotic resistance hypothesis [i.e., species-rich mainland and tropical locations are harder to invade]. Instead, success depends on the suitability of the abiotic environment for the exotic species at the introduction site.

Citation:
Blackburn, Tim M., and Richard P. Duncan. 2001 (November 8). Determinants of establishment success in introduced birds. Nature 414: 195-197.

“Australasian bird invasions: accidents of history?"

An excerpt from the Abstract:

Of the >242 species introduced by Europeans to Australasia during the 18th-20th centuries, at least 32% established long-term viable populations. A review of the literature reveals the most robust predictors of introduction success to be total number of individuals liberated, and the number of separate attempts at introduction. Using generalized linear modeling on a combined regional dataset, I confirm this result, and demonstrate that together these two characteristics of historical introductions correctly explains the observed outcome in 89.3% of cases in Australia.

The entire paper can be downloaded here (.pdf).

Citation: Brook, Barry W. 2004. Australasian bird invasions: accidents of history? Ornithological Science 3: 33-42.