Now that the war is over there will be a tendency to look for someone to blame for damage done to the Pacific Islands. The Navy will probably be pointed to as particularly responsible for destruction of birds on oceanic islands. My experience with Navy personnel, dating even from before the war, has been a most pleasant one. Officers of all ranks have shown solicitude for the birds. From Admiral Nimitz down, they have apparently observed and been interested in the avian residents of the islands. They have done their best to refrain from using sanctuary areas for war purposes, and, with the war ended, have turned their attention to restoration of bird life. Admiral Nimitz, in his numerous visits to forward bases, kept in mind the welfare of the birds amid all the problems of war.
When it was discovered what rats were doing to birds on Midway, Commodore Gail Morgan, then commander of the base, inaugurated an intensive rat campaign. If such concern is shown in the future, I feel optimistic about the fate of the birds. When birds are in such large numbers as the recent count on Midway indicates, and since other islands of the Hawaiian Chain have been little disturbed by the war, we can be sure that the birds will make a rapid increase if adequately protected. Animals breeding from a small number make slow progress. But when numbers are large, even with birds that lay but one egg in the year, the increase is large. Then there is a logical saturation point, when no further increase can be made and the balance of Nature becomes established.
An observer on one oceanic island has told me that when the frigate birds become too numerous the boobies, who provide most of its food, leave the island for a season and the frigates die in large numbers. I once saw a slope covered with skeletons of frigate birds that had died on the ground, perhaps for this reason. It is not the mere presence of human beings, or the noises of their activities, that injure the birds. It is the company they bring with them. Dogs, cats, rats, other predaceous animals and introduced diseases are largely responsible for reducing the numbers of native birds. Island life is also more readily affected by disadvantages of this kind than larger areas of land. The birds soon become accustomed to the presence of human beings. In fact, they do not fear them at all until given cause to do so.
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