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Cat Wars: The Devastating Consequences of a Cuddly Killer

10,000 Birds

Agonizing quandaries concerning invasive species are well-known to wildlife biologists. They argue for the elimination of free-range cats entirely. Arriving in North America around the time of Columbus, they have become “one of the most successful invasive species on earth.”.

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Feral Cats Are An Invasive Species in North America (and elsewhere)

10,000 Birds

It was not a kitty cat, even though all of its relatives in the Americas were. But they don’t live in North America. I find it astonishing that people argue of whether feral cats are bad for birds in North America. In North America, you’ve got Bears at the large end, Cats in the middle, and at the smaller end, the Mustilids.

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The Dracula Bird

10,000 Birds

I am only responding to my subjective impression of a single species’ appearance here; specifically, that of the Bronzed Cowbird. Instead, they lay their eggs in other species’ nests, and let those nest-making birds (often significantly smaller than the cowbirds) raise their young. Native versus invasive species?

Birds 153
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Filling the Gap Left By DeBooy’s Rail

10,000 Birds

Back in 2009, Tai Haku sent us a fascinating post exploring a question that ecologists worldwide grapple with: can the translocation of rare species into niches left empty by extinction be successful or justified? It is extinct. It persists in captivity at a breeding facility on Guam and in a number of American zoos.