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A Connecticut Yankee Goes to Washington: Senator George P. McLean, Birdman of the Senate

10,000 Birds

Plume hunting raged supreme 150 years ago, when egret feathers were part of a worldwide trade in feathers and other bird parts, used for women’s hats and other articles of clothing (but mostly hats), delighting the upper classes and practically wiping out bird species. It has become the cornerstone of U.S.

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Hornbills of Sabah

10,000 Birds

Another item they feed on is hunting edible bird nest swiftlets, which are quite common in edible swiftlet houses in Sabah, Malaysia ( source ). The first attempt in hunting was made by the male hornbill which was seen snapping at a passing swiftlet, but was unsuccessful.

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A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds–A Book Review

10,000 Birds

I was especially interested in “To Hide From God,” the chapter on songbird slaughter and protection in Cyprus. Has it really been 21 years (almost) from the publication of Jonathan Franzen’s New Yorker article, “ Emptying the Skies ,” six years since the documentary with the same name?

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Birding Sukau, Sabah, Borneo

10,000 Birds

They look crap but presumably offer some protection for the chicks, though not from each other (see the murderous activities within the nests in my previous post ). The Oriental Darter is classified as Near Threatened – the reasons are the usual ones: habitat loss, hunting, and pollution. of its hunts are successful.

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Bird Conservation News: The Good, The Bad (and Ugly), and More Good

10,000 Birds

The survival of songbirds depends in part upon eliminating illegal hunting. That means passing over the Mediterranean Sea and the Middle East, where you’re liable to get shot, trapped, or otherwise hunted. And it’s the subject of a new article in National Geographic by author and birder Jonathan Franzen.

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Birding Sepilok, Borneo (Part 2)

10,000 Birds

The drongo perches above the flock, snatching insects that they disturb, and keeping an eye out for predators that might go unnoticed by its hunting flock-mates. The associated bird species seek out drongos, apparently relying upon them heavily for protection.

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White-backed Vultures are Proper Birds

10,000 Birds

It can’t have escaped your notice lately that the blog has been overrun with articles about North America’s pseudo-warblers (or wood warblers, as some people, apparently unaware the name is taken by a proper European species, call them), and, even worse, no small amount of poetry.

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