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Birds, Hunters, and Lead

10,000 Birds

There are few sights more wrenching to a wildlife rehabilitator than a convulsing, lead-poisoned bird. In what some might see as an unlikely alliance, wildlife rehabilitators, veterinarians, and – yes – hunters have banded together to convince those who hunt to use copper bullets instead of lead.

Hunters 179
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The Final Days of the Danube backwaters in Belgrade: Chinese Belt and Road Initiative is coming to Serbia

10,000 Birds

In mid-December, I was birding along the Beljarica levee (Beh-LYAH-ritza), my local patch north of Belgrade, when something other than birds attracted my attention: three wild boars , appearing all black because they had just swam through the swamp to reach the bottom of the levee. I barely started when some sulphur (a.k.a.

Serbia 245
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Revenge Birding (Shanghai, early June 2022)

10,000 Birds

With the lockdown lasting until the end of May (ironically thus pretty much including the whole spring migration – the divine sense of humor is a rather malign one, I am afraid), June still had the freedom of birding anywhere in Shanghai, not just inside a smallish compound. Accessorizing for birds.

Singapore 147
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Rip Van Winkle’s Crow Killing Contest

10,000 Birds

I won’t pick a fight with hunters, as long as they eat what they shoot and don’t use lead ammunition. Here is a direct (and unedited) quote: “… keep in mind the main reason why experienced crow hunters got into the sport in the first place, Fun. I am not anti-hunting. Plain old fashioned Fun.”. This is baloney.

Killing 272
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Linda Hufford: A Rehabber Comments on “Collecting” Rare Birds

10,000 Birds

She runs Birds of Texas Rehabilitation Center in Austin County, Texas. This attitude of superiority and arrogance can be seen in the recent story about a researcher on the Solomon Islands who mist trapped a bird not seen by scientists for fifty years. Can a dead bird educate the researcher on its song? Or how gracefully it flew?

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The Beautiful and Colorful Mourning Dove

10,000 Birds

The Mourning Dove ( Zenaida macroura) is among the most abundant and widespread terrestrial birds endemic to North and Middle America. This gentle bird frequents bird feeders and readily nests almost anywhere. A seemingly rather peaceful bird, it gets its name from its easily identifiable mournful call. v=44fNo6B5gUI.

Hunters 176
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Lost Animals: Extinction and the Photographic Record: A Book Review

10,000 Birds

Lost Animals: Extinction and the Photographic Record by Errol Fuller is one of these books. Most of the books about extinction, including Fuller’s Extinct Birds (now, ironically, out of print), describe what was lost and look for explanations, scientifically and historically. But it examines extinction in a very different way.

Animal 267