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Rancho Naturalista Lodge, Costa Rica, or in the Land of Coffee and Chocolate

10,000 Birds

Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks , Muscovy Ducks and Blue-winged Teals were around us, together with Green , Great and Little Blue Herons , Cattle and Great White Egrets , Black-crowned and Yellow-crowned Night-Herons , plus one locally rare Pinnated Bittern in the floating vegetation, as well as several dozen Neotropical Cormorants.

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Revenge Birding (Shanghai, early June 2022)

10,000 Birds

If I was an ornithologist aiming for a grant, I would now definitely highlight the need for more research on this topic. The researchers are quite aware of the differences between humans and birds and thus have completely ignored another explanation for this behavior. It is sometimes necessary to find food though.

Singapore 147
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The Domestic Turkey and the First Thanksgiving

10,000 Birds

Thus, the cattle we raise for meat and dairy are sometimes called Bos taurus while the extinct wild form is always called Bos primigenius. Some time after the Spanish encounter with the Turkey, birds were brought back to Europe where they were raised and became an important source of food and fancy feathers.

Turkey 197
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Birding Shanghai in March 2023

10,000 Birds

That paper raises an interesting question: “When less attractive people accept less attractive dates, do they persuade themselves that the people they choose to date are more physically attractive than others perceive them to be? Fortunately, some Buddhist temples at least in Thailand have now spoken out against the practice ( source ).

Birds 185
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What to Do at High Island When the Winds are South

10,000 Birds

Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary was an amazing and unexpected treat, but that’s because I failed to do my research. It’s only 15 minutes north of High Island, though in neighboring Chambers County (High Island is part of Galveston County, good to know if you’re going to be researching eBird checklists).

Houston 200
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Whooping Crane Ancestry

10,000 Birds

Moreover, the pair I saw was feeding from a livestock trough alongside a group of cattle. Over a decade from 1993 to 2004, conservationists released 289 captive-raised Whooping Cranes into Osceola, Lake and Polk counties in Central Florida. Hardly the elegant, natural picture deserving of some seriously stunning birds!

Florida 216
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Moral Vegetarianism, Part 3 of 13

Animal Ethics

If beef cattle who could not feel pain were developed, then it would be permissible to eat them. KBJ: Martin seems to think that people who abstain from meat on the ground that meat-eating causes pain would not eat “beef cattle” even if they could not feel pain. Scientific research and expertise are needed here.

Morals 40