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Africa’s Big Five and Little Five

10,000 Birds

Originally a hunting term, the Big Five were the most dangerous and prized targets of the great white hunters on safari. However it is now one of the world’s rarest animals after decades of relentless hunting and poaching. In Asia they are even commonly kept as pets! to the far reaches of freezing Siberia.

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Birds and People: A Book Review

10,000 Birds

We sing about them, we paint them, we use them as mythic and poetic symbols for our spiritual and emotional feelings, we wear them in myriad and often colorful ways, we adopt them as household pets. We worship birds, we hunt birds, we protect birds, and, yes, we eat birds. As they say, the relationship is complicated.

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Hornbills of Sabah

10,000 Birds

Another item they feed on is hunting edible bird nest swiftlets, which are quite common in edible swiftlet houses in Sabah, Malaysia ( source ). The first attempt in hunting was made by the male hornbill which was seen snapping at a passing swiftlet, but was unsuccessful.

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Birding Tabin, Sabah, Borneo

10,000 Birds

It describes how, when a veterinary drug used in India killed the vast majority of Indian vultures, the human death rate in affected locations increased by about 4% as the vultures were no longer around to feed on animal carcasses and the sanitation thus worsened substantially.

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Birding Hongbenghe, Yunnan (Part 2)

10,000 Birds

The species is also hunted for local consumption in Meghalaya (India), according to the HBW. Unlike me, the HBW does not seem to appreciate the species much, stating that it is “hopping about in very ungainly manner.” ” Or better stick to your current job as a door-to-door salesperson for vacuum cleaners.

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