10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 7, 2017

When he reached out to ask if he could contribute a piece to 10,000 Birds about about the ethics around the current Snowy Owl irruption in the central and eastern United States we were all for it! “In This quote perfectly sums up the state of the Snowy Owl/birding ethics discussion. This is what most of the controversy is about.

Ethics 150

Ethics Owls New York North America 150

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2023

Baby birds are cuteness personified, possibly even more so than other baby animals, including human babies, and pose interesting questions of survival and development. Baby birds may be separated from the nest and their parents because of natural occurrences (violent weather, floods) or unknowing human interference or predators.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 265

Wildlife Rehabilitation Birds Family Collecting 265

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2015

Second, reading about birds courting and parenting brings out the tendency to identify, which leads directly to anthropomorphism, the tendency to assign birds human emotions and thoughts. Think of birds too much as humans and you lose the specialness that makes them birds. Storey Publishing, April 2015. Yellow Warbler fledgling.

Eggs 263

Eggs Family 2006 New York 263

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2021

Signaling theory comes up frequently in bird literature (one example I can think of off-hand is Nick Davies’ Cuckoo: Cheating by Nature, Bloomsbury, 2015), but if you’re not familiar with its basic ideas you must read the Introduction. There is so much here! I do wish there was more about research on female bird song.

North America 279

North America Research Birds Groups 279

Animal Ethics

JULY 24, 2015

Forty years ago, the suggestion that nonhuman animals have moral rights—indeed, many of the same rights as human beings—would have been met with incredulous stares, if not outright ridicule. Fast forward to the present.

Morals 40

Morals 2015 Industry Protection 40

Animal Ethics

JULY 24, 2015

Forty years ago, the suggestion that nonhuman animals have moral rights—indeed, many of the same rights as human beings—would have been met with incredulous stares, if not outright ridicule. Fast forward to the present.

Animal Rights 40

Animal Rights Rights Animal Morals 40

Animal Ethics

JULY 12, 2010

A Humane Egg The life of animals raised in confinement on industrial farms is slowly improving, thanks to pressure from consumers, animal rights advocates, farmers and legislators. In California last week, Gov.

New York Times 40

New York Times New York Proposition 2 Veal 40