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A review of the birdcentric novel “Accidentals” (the title of which is in the plural for a reason)

10,000 Birds

At mid-life crisis, the mother, Lili, decides to leave her husband (Gabe’s father) and return to take up farming on her family estancia in eastern Uruguay, far from the delights of Montevideo where most of her rambunctious, rollicking family resides, overseen, not always approvingly, by Gabe’s quirky abuela. Gabe agrees to come along.

Uruguay 156
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Can we talk about Cecil the Lion?

10,000 Birds

The killing of Cecil was equated with murder, a moral crime rather than a symptom of a ecological problem. Conservation is concerned about protecting populations, species, habitats, ecosystems. That conservation uses the death of the species it is trying to save is both paradoxical and not. And culls of Nyala have been proposed.

Lions 218
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Birds and Us: A 12,000 Year History from Cave Art to Conservation–A Book Review

10,000 Birds

This is “the deep cradle of Western ornithology: the birthplace of bird study,” he tells us as he writes about gazing at the 8,000-year old depictions of “flamingos, herons, raptors, avocets and many other species” (p.

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How to Know the Birds: The Art and Adventure of Birding – A Book Review

10,000 Birds

So, for example, Essay #15, “Individual Variation,” uses Herring Gulls to introduce the concept that one species, even one species at a specific age, can vary widely in appearance. The Checklist is more than a taxonomic listing of species and chapter number and title; it also contains useful notes on each bird family.

Birds 115
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From Today's New York Times

Animal Ethics

He says he hunts out of a need to take responsibility for his family, who evidently live where the supermarkets offer no meat. I’m tired of hearing people who enjoy killing justify it with specious moral platitudes. It is only the prejudice of our species that justifies culling the deer population while protecting our own.

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The Emotional Lives of Animals

4 The Love Of Animals

Chimpanzees and elephants grieve the loss of family and friends, and gorillas hold wakes for the dead. Paul’s family noticed that whenever he was about to have an attack, Tinker would get agitated. Caledonian crows live in small family groups and youngsters learn to fashion and use tools by watching adults. Is this moral?

Emotional 100
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Moral Vegetarianism, Part 3 of 13

Animal Ethics

For an explanation of this feature, click on “Moral Vegetarianism” at the bottom of this post. Most moral vegetarians list fish and fowl as animals one should not eat. The ability to feel pain is not an obviously plausible way of morally distinguishing microorganisms from other organisms. What Meat Should Not Be Eaten?

Morals 40