10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2015

The potpourri covers some interesting bird related science of the last few weeks, and the promise is this: I’ll get to that other stuff soon, I promise! But in Iraq, and more exactly, Kurdistan and Iraqi Kurdistan, they are supposed to be there (and are regularly hunted and eaten) and the fighting is not supposed to be there.

Science 151

Science Iraq Research Birds 151

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2022

Others are being killed for use in traditional medicine. “Arrow-Marked Babblers move around in gangs of a dozen or so, like troops of monkeys or wild dogs, constantly chattering among themselves. This can lead to birds being poisoned. If that sounds stupid, that is because it is.

Zimbabwe 147

Zimbabwe Birds South Africa Benin 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2018

The causes were the usual reasons for island extinction—deforestation by both humans and invasive plants that crowded out native plants, hunting, and invasive rats, mongoose, monkeys, and, of course, feral cats. A foot deep by some accounts, it killed what life was left in the forest. We know what those large flocks were like.

Mauritius 101

Mauritius Stud Zoos Eggs 101