10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2014

With binoculars around my neck, I am leaving home, wondering which will be the first species on my year list. The explanation said: „dovecote – fresh meat in case of siege“. Obviously, I am talking of Feral Pigeons (also called city, town or street pigeons). New Year’s Day 2014. And yet, I have passed by one before that.

Feral 259

Feral Meat Species Serbia 259

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

The very first thing we notice about this large member of the Galliformes is that there is a wild version and a domestic version, and although the two are rather different, they are both given the same species name, Meleagris gallopavo. This is not entirely unknown among domestic animals, but many domesticates have no living wild version.

Turkey 210

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 210

10,000 Birds

MARCH 26, 2014

If the whole thing passed you by then Mother Jones did a good piece on why zoos sometimes have to kill individuals for the good of the species. For those that don’t remember, diclofenac is the veterinary drug that just about wiped vultures out completely in Asia. Like much of conservation, its the best of a bunch of bad options.

Lions 150

Lions Giraffes Zoos Killing 150