Showing posts with label birds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birds. Show all posts

Tuesday, 16 July 2024

Jackdaw rather than family cat killed blackbird

The infographic-style image explains. But the story goes wider in saying that Corvids can and do attack intruders. The second letter below reports on magpies killing ducklings and magpies often attack cats! They think the cats are a danger to their offspring in nests nearby

I'll add a bit by quoting this letter to The Times in today's newspaper from Dr Mark Taylor of Coalville, Leics, whose letter is headed: Cruelty of nature.
Sir, David Noble's letter (July 15) about the effect that cats can have on the local bird population triggered feelings of guilt over finding the body of a young blackbird on my driveway, one I had been watching with delight for the previous few days as its father fed it. Fearing that one of my seven cats was responsible, I nervously reviewed the CCTV and discovered the assassin to be a jackdaw that had targeted the blackbird mid-flight. Nature indeed read in beak and claw.
Dian Pollock writes to The Times as follows:
Sir, Councils in Australia have introduced curfews on cats at night and strict regulations about identifying trespassing felines. Maybe it's time for one here. We also have issues with magpies. On Monday I saw the last duckling on the University Lake being attacked by one.

P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Monday, 1 July 2024

To save birds should we kill off cats (National Geographic)?

A National Geographic author, Noah Strycker, titled their recent article: "To save birds should we kill off cats?"

What kind of title is that? I don't think you could write a more absurd title about domestic and stray cats than that. I guess you know what the article is about; it's about the predation of birds by domestic, stray and feral cats all over the world. This topic comes up all the time. And my response comes up all the time because what they say annoys me.


They rely on numerous studies about cat predation on wildlife and they come to the general conclusion that domestic cats and stray cats kill billions of wild animals including precious birds which are more precious to humans than mice (speciesism).

But the studies are in quite small areas and you can't conclusively decide that bird populations are under threat or that anyone bird species is currently under threat of being made extinct by domestic and stray cat predation. The studies don't conclude that. In fact, in the UK, the RSPB, some time ago, said that there was no evidence that bird species where under general threat of extinction by cat predation.

We don't like to see it cats killing birds. It is an aspect of domestic cat ownership which is unwanted. We wish that all domestic cats were cuddly, furry non-predator creatures who kept us company and never had any desire to kill but unfortunately they are top predators and we domesticated them with their approval.

They are our responsibility. We created all the feral cats on the planet. We created all of stray cats on the planet. As mentioned we domesticated the cat. We are responsible and if we don't like the fact that they kill birds then we don't just kill all cats to resolve that problem we look to ourselves to resolve it humanely and responsibly.

And on that topic, you will find one very firm conclusion about the loss of bird species and the overall threat to wildlife in general. It all comes from humans. Human activity. Global warming caused by human activity. The building of human settlements destroying habitat.

There are no studies which compare the number of birds indirectly or directly killed by humans and the number of birds indirectly or directly killed by cats. But if there was such a study I would like to propose that humans kill far more birds than cats. Most of it indirectly but sometimes directly like building tall buildings into which migrating birds fly and die en masse.

But even if you go to the studies which conclude that a particular bird species on an island somewhere has been made extinct by domestic cats turned feral, you have to go to the human and their behaviour to find blame. These people imported domestic cats to an island and set them free where they procreated and became feral. But for that they would have been no predation of birds on those islands.

All invasive species including the feral cat, for example, in Australia, have been created through human activity. Humans create invasive species because they transport them from one continent to another. From one country to another.

How do you think hippopotamuses arrived in South America and started to procreate? Because a drug baron in that country decided to import hippopotamuses into his private zoo. When this drug baron was captured and put into prison for life, the zoo was abandoned and the hippopotamuses were freed and procreated. South America now has a very peculiar invasive species: hippopotamuses. Point made. Humans have created invasive species because humans are the only animal that can travel so widely and freely across oceans and bring other species with them either deliberately or accidentally.

So to blame the cat for devastating bird predation is incorrect anyway and it is a distortion of the truth to imply that cats kill birds and humans don't. If we are to kill any predator to protect birds it should be the top predator on the planet: the human. That would be equally absurd. Nobody is proposing that we kill humans to protect birds.

What we should be proposing is that human behaviour should be altered to protect wildlife in general including birds. At present there is no attempt whatsoever to do this at scale. There will be small projects in various countries but the general trend or tenor of human activity is to destroy nature and therefore animals that live within nature and that will go on for the indefinite future.

So this article on the respected online magazine National Geographic is idiotic and the headline is click bait. That's why I am addressing it. It needs to be counteracted with a counterargument. What's your argument?

You may know, incidentally, that in Australia they do think and believe that they can exterminate all feral cats by shooting them or poisoning them! So on that continent they actually agree with this National Geographic journalist. They think it's feasible to wipe out the feral cat population in Australia. However, they don't know how many feral cats there are. They don't know exactly where they all are. In killing feral cats with poison they kill other animals. Their task is impossible. As they don't know how many feral cats there are they can't assess how many birds are killed by cats. They say they can but they can't. More idiotic behaviour in my opinion. And it's cruel and inhumane. It's entirely wrong. Because, as mentioned, it totally ignores the origin of the feral cat problem: people.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Thursday, 27 June 2024

Bald eagle is NOT the national bird of America YET

It may surprise some people and it certainly surprised me that the bald eagle is not the national bird of America although it is strongly associated with, and representative of, America's culture; a country where freedom is vital to all Americans which comes about through independence, strength and the support of a family. The bald eagle does all these things and therefore should be the national bird of America.

Bald Eagle is NOT the national bird of America YET
Image: MikeB

They are a majestic bird and the bald eagle has appeared on the great Seal of the United States since 1782. This is when the founding fathers desired a powerful image at the beginnings of their country.

For mammals, the bison is the national animal of America and the National tree of America is the oak but no such designation has been made for birds.

But this bird has a powerful advocate in Preston Cook, a volunteer at the National Eagle Centre, a non-profit group based in Minnesota. This non-profit is lobbying Congress to remedy this omission.

Preston Cook believes that it's time they did it. He believed that, "It's a small correction in history for something that has been left undone. It [the majesty of the bald eagle's freedom] is ingrained in us."

He added that "It's a symbol of freedom, of independence, of power and family."

The bald eagle, Preston Cook says, mates for life and they look after their young diligently. They should represent America.

The rectification can be achieved through an act of Congress or by a presidential proclamation and Preston Cook, 77, prefers the former.

Preston Cook is the author of "American Eagle: a Visual History of our National Emblem".

And he has written a bill which has the backing of a Minnesotan congressman, Brad Finstad, in addition to 2 others Amy Klobuchar and Cynthia Lummis. He hopes the bill will be made official by the end of 2024.

Sadly, this beautiful bird has been relentlessly hunted throughout the US for centuries. By the end of the 19th century sightings of bald eagles were rare in many areas. In response, in 1940, Congress enacted legislation to protect them.

America now has an estimated 316 700 bald eagles flying across their wide, open skies.


Threats to the bald eagle


The bald eagle faces several threats in America, which can be spelled out as follows:

  • Habitat Destruction: Loss of shoreline and old-growth forests reduces nesting sites and hunting grounds.
  • Lead Poisoning: Scavenging on carcasses left by hunters using lead ammunition leads to poisoning.
  • Human Disturbance: Disruption during nesting season by recreational activities can cause nesting failures.
  • Power Line Electrocution: Collisions with power lines can cause injury or death.
  • Wind Turbine Collisions: Wind farms located in eagle migration paths pose a risk of collisions.
  • Entanglement in Monofilament Fishing Line: Discarded fishing line can trap and injure eagles.
  • Illegal Shooting: Though uncommon, eagles are still sometimes shot illegally.
  • Contaminants: Pesticides and other pollutants can harm eagle health and reproduction.

Conservation of the bald eagle


The successful conservation of the bald eagle in America is a heartwarming story and can be spelled out like this:

  • Protection Laws: The Bald Eagle Protection Act (1940) and Migratory Bird Treaty Act (1918) prohibit harming eagles, their nests, and eggs.
  • DDT Ban: The ban on the pesticide DDT in the 1970s allowed eagle eggshells to thicken again, improving chick survival.
  • Habitat Protection: Establishment of wildlife refuges and conservation easements safeguards nesting and hunting grounds.
  • Captive Breeding and Reintroduction: Programs helped rebuild populations in depleted areas.
  • Public Education: Raising awareness about the importance of eagles and the threats they face fosters public support for conservation efforts.
  • Law Enforcement: Vigilance against illegal shooting and habitat destruction ensures the eagle's continued recovery.
  • Monitoring and Research: Ongoing studies track eagle populations and identify new threats, allowing for informed conservation strategies.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

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