10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2021

Here are some of the questions that were running through my mind as I read Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World’s Largest Owl : (a) Is ornithological research always this dangerous? (b) The fish owl is Jonathan Slaght’s grail and also, more prosaically, his dissertation topic.

Owls 132

Owls Russia Fish Research 132

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2011

So, one might surmise, it’s OK if they get shot by hunters thinking they’re sandhill cranes? What could motivate gunmen (I cannot call them hunters) in two states to deliberately kill North America’s tallest and most critically endangered bird? It may be as sick as deliberately targeting an endangered species for death.

2011 240

2011 Hunting Kentucky Hunters 240

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2015

Although this park was logged in the past, as a national park it is one of the few forests in Ghana that is really protected. . We actually spent considerable time searching unsuccessfully for this highly sought-after bird; however I did suspect they were not gone, as several hunters I interviewed knew the bird and claimed it still existed.

Ghana 189

Ghana Hunters Gambia Guinea 189