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The Domestic Turkey and the First Thanksgiving

10,000 Birds

This is the time of year that we rightfully contemplate the noble Turkey. I don’t believe, but this is subject to correction, that the wild and domestic Turkey were ever called by different binomials. Photograph of a Wild Turkey at Flatrock Brook Nature Center, in Englewood, New Jersey, by Corey. And it isn’t. It’s complicated.

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The return of the Old Man

10,000 Birds

Nesting is now confined to Morocco, irregularly in Boghari in Algeria and in Birecik, Turkey.” (The Sadly, they no longer breed in Algeria, while in Turkey no free-flying birds remain. (In Despite the fact that efforts are made to ensure they are not imprinted on humans, they are naturally confiding, even friendly.

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To Save the Northern Bald Ibis

10,000 Birds

Add to hunting, poisoning, and habitat loss and disturbance yet another man-made danger: war. A breeding program in Turkey has been successful, but civil war in neighboring Syria seems to have posed a significant hazard. For the past few years, many of the Ibises that migrated southward, across Syria, haven’t returned.

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We are Just Money Grubbers

10,000 Birds

This species’ population is suspected to have decreased rapidly, owing to levels of hunting on the staging and wintering grounds, and habitat deterioration (largely as a result of land cultivation). In the Western Palearctic at least 20-30% of the population are shot each year, often accidentally during hunting of other species.”

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I and the Bird: What is a Vulture?

10,000 Birds

Maybe it’s important to note that Turkey Vultures , in particular, were well-loved by , and even inspirational to , the people that lived here before Europeans arrived. Unlike the Turkey Vulture, who smells out decaying flesh, every one of these vultures forages by sight. – ==– Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura.

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Thought To Be Extinct For 100 Years

10,000 Birds

There were reasons to think that the White-winged Guan had been extirpated by over-hunting. Hunting pressure in a heavily populated region (even for Nineteenth Century standards) and easy access were likely to result in the extirpation of the Guan in the regions surrounding the site of collection.

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Getting the Bill – Taste, Touch and Smell in Birds

10,000 Birds

Whilst catfish have around 100,000 taste buds, rabbits around 17,000 and humans approximately 9,000, birds rarely exceed 100 of these receptors. But certain bird species go against the grain here and some even appear to have a better sense of smell than many mammals, humans included. Let’s talk about taste.

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