I can hardly bear to prepare this thread - the subject matter is so sad

[donsu]

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0824/p09s02-coop.htm


Bird by bird, the avian population is shrinking
The songs of tens of millions of birds have been silenced. It feels as if the lights are dimming.


-snip-

Earlier this summer, the National Audubon Society released a definitive study of population trends of North American birds, a monumental effort based on decades of Christmas bird counts and breeding bird surveys. The study confirms what my grandfather feared and what most of us now know. Birds that I used to see routinely growing up in New England – evening grosbeaks, eastern meadowlarks, northern bobwhites – are in free fall. The losses are mind-boggling. Since my grandfather introduced me to birds just half a lifetime ago, once-common species have declined by as much as 80 percent due to the usual suspects: habitat loss, pesticides, introduced species, and climate change. The songs of tens of millions of birds have been silenced. It feels as if the lights are dimming.

-snip-
----------------------


not only will their songs be missed but birds have a purpose. they eat bugs,etc., they propagage plants, they provide fertilizer, they eat seeds and expell them and the seeds grow, etc., etc.

I miss them.

I hate the neo cons

[seemslikeadream]

1. Here's my indigo bunting

He would come to my yard one day, on Mother's day every year for a very long time. I have not seen him the last two years.

[Subdivisions]

41. Striking color! Great shot. n/t

[seemslikeadream]

48. Here's another photo

[MsMagnificent]

62. Gorgeous picture

It's now my desktop background.

I'm even thinking of trying to paint in on silk, and maybe in oil. If either come out good enough I'll send you a pic :)

[seemslikeadream]

66. Thank you so much

:hi: Don't forget about me!

[Beerboy]

114. I've clicked back to this photo 5 times now,

I really like it a lot. It would make for an awesome painting utilizing a minimized palette of colors, accentuating the inherent beauty and simplicity of the scene with 1 or 3 pencil sketch studies to establish the best composition.:)

[Beerboy]

100. Even though the pic is a little blurry,

you can see the bird knows he's getting his picture taken. What a beautiful sweet photo! :-)

[Johnny Noshoes]

122. My humble effort

[proud patriot]

47. beautiful

Wow :wow:

[seemslikeadream]

49. Thanks and one more of a warbler

[proud patriot]

59. Thanks for sharing

I love my (wild)birds I need to get some pictures when I can

[pitohui]

84. looks like a nashville warbler? nice photo EOM

.

[Beerboy]

101. Very nice photo, though the warbler looks slightly pissed about something...

I would love to hear it's song, it would wash away most pissed-offness of our trivial human concerns, at least for a minute. What a beautiful little bird, thanks for sharing the photo!

[djjimz]

117. A warbler

Do they sing?
He looks like the golden finches we have here in Pennsylvainia.
Even though as the poster points out, I don't see as many as I used to.
That and honey bees.
My God, where have they all gone too?
I have a huge bush in full blossom and by this time two years ago the droning bees were so plentiful you could actually hear them from inside my house.
Today I looked at that bush -- I couldn't see a single bee.
So so sad...

[pitohui]

129. warbler is sort of a misnomer

they do have their songs but you wouldn't necessarily say they "sing" in the sense that a persistent singer like a mockingbird or cardinal does

some of them actually seem to spit a little if you ask me! :-)

not sure of this one's song, i think it's a nashville, and i've heard it, but i don't remember the audio, i'm a bit tone deaf

[mnhtnbb]

68. I had never seen one--until I found one dead on our deck. Best guess--

he flew into our very dirty sliding glass doors. Broke my heart when I found out
what he was by looking in the bird book.

[Beerboy]

104. Beautiful photo! He's looking right at the camera lens.

I'm glad you captured this shot, the life expectancy of wild birds is very short indeed. If I had such a beautiful bird visit, I would do as you did and try to snap his photo without spooking him.
I probably would've scared him away, but you managed to get him to want to pose for a shot! What a beautiful photo, thanks for posting it.:thumbsup:

[barb162]

110. That's a beautiful bird. n/t

[valerief]

111. Gorgeous birdie! nt

[Oilwellian]

121. We have a family of 4 indigo buntings hanging around

Their color is so brilliant and striking...and they're just as jumpy as cardinals, I guess instinctively, due to their brilliant colors. I absolutely relish watching them year after year. And I think they come back time and again because we keep our feeders full of goodies. They love the nuts and berries I add to their regular seed. Sometimes I think the berries pickle and the birds get a buzz. :D One winter, on a snowy day, I looked out of my front window and counted 11 male cardinals on the snowy ground. I'm kicking myself to this day for not getting a picture of that magnificent site. The red against the white was just incredible.

We also have a slew of bluejays (the bullies on the block), dove, chickadees, robins, house finches (that love nesting in our porch plants) yellow finches, hummingbirds (gotta keep their feeders full and clean as well) and other assorted cheeps. Feed them if you can afford it...they'll bring you endless pleasure.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. This is truly one of the most tragic things one can entertain, then there

are those who will tell you, "oh, we've had this sort of thing before, remember the ice age?? It's a natural process, blah, blah, blah."

[Subdivisions]

50. Some of it, however, is NOT a natural process. Witness the

plight of the http://audubon2.org/watchlist/viewSpecies.jsp?id=85">Golden-Cheeked Warbler. "This warbler is one of the most at-risk species in North America. It breeds exclusively on or near the Edwards Plateau of central Texas, requiring Ashe juniper habitat, much of which has been lost or altered due to urban sprawl and land management practices. Birders make the pilgrimage from all over the world to see this special warbler."

I personally have previously been active in the conservation of this species here in Texas and, together with the Travis Audobon Society of Austin, the Texas Resource Conservation Commission and the Texas Fish & Wildlife Department, my organization (currently inactive) Environmentalists Concerned for the Habitats of Earth (ECHOE) played an important role in mediating the conservation compromise that has kept this species relatively stable for the past 10 years.

But the road to compromise was littered with potholes. It is EXTREMELY difficult to stop suburban sprawl. And the other "land management practices" mentioned in the blurb above was the practice by ranchers of cutting down the juniper breaks in which this species builds its nest and raises its young. The area was suffering a persistent drought and ranchers needed to clear these trees in order to give the grasses that fed their livestock more room to grow.

I formed ECHOE as a vehicle to begin my campaign to save this bird and it started with letters to my local paper, then political meetings (including my personal presentation to Pete Geren, eww!), clandestinely attending and tape-recording county and ranch coop meetings, then protests on the front lawn of the state capitol building in Austin that drew 1500 angry ranchers and culminating in the conference room of an office building in Waco where the compromise was reached. The ranchers had agreed to spare the juniper trees on hillsides and steep grades and in canyons and draws. This was a great victory because if there's one thing a Texas ranchers hates is someone telling him what he should and shouldn't do with his land.

Oh, and, I hate this part. During all of that I had the opportunity to question one certain little puny sample of a man by the name of George W. Bush who was at the time running for governor of Texas against the dearly beloved Ann Richards about his environmental policies for Texas.

My question: Mr. Bush, what will you do to ensure the perpituity of endangered species such as the Golden-Cheeked Warbler if you are elected governor? His answer: "Heh, heh. Well, I love to hunt and fish so I'll be thinking along those lines."

[Maestro]

113. I tried to go find the Golden Cheeked Warbler this summer

near Balcones NWR but was rained out. :banghead: And that is disgusting, although not surprising, what shithead told you when you asked the question. I detest that man!

[TwilightGardener]

3. Heartbreaking. Pretty soon it will all be starlings, grackles and pigeons--

the adaptable birds--at least in populated areas. Here in Nebraska, though, there is still a good population of songbirds--my yard is chock-full of bluebirds and orioles. But I live in a rural area.

[donsu]

6. you are lucky to still have birds - here in Key West you hardly

ever see a pelican, when there used to be flocks of them. we called them the Conch AirForce as they flew in formation just inches from the water. neat!

I miss them.

and I miss the huge flock of vultures that wintered here. they would circle the trash mountain on Stock Island. maybe they left because the trash is covered over now.

[TwilightGardener]

9. Yes, I used to live in Tampa, and I LOVED seeing the "squadrons"

(my husband is in the Air Force) of pelicans skimming the water, or watching them sit on posts. I didn't realize their numbers were going down--they're some of my favorite birds (I'm big into birds).

[Subdivisions]

33. donsu, the same could be said for the pelican situation here

on the other side of the GOM. The brown pelican used to be quite numerous along the Gulf coast but the last several times I've been, from Corpus to Panama City, I saw a maybe two and that's if I didn't see the same one twice. They used to be perched on almost everything and, you are so right about the Conch Airforce! Loved the way they flew in formation, their wing tips nearly touching the water.

[alfredo]

17. My back yard still has Cardinals, Finches, Hairy Woodpeckers, Grackles,

Cickadees, Jays, Robins, Threshers, Starlings, Doves, and other occasional visitors that stop by on migration.

I will have to go out to where the Meadowlarks used to be everywhere to see if I can find any.

[TwilightGardener]

36. I have those guys too--I'm pretty lucky where I live. Western meadowlarks

are my favorite--they live out on the roadsides and pastures, so I only get to hear them if I drive with the windows down.

[alfredo]

38. I don't get out enough to do some real bird watching.

Every year I see Sandhill Cranes pass over on their migration.

When I was a kid I remember seeing migrations that went from horizon to horizon, but not anymore.

We are in the midst of a mass extinction. Will we be one of the species that falls prey? All that is needed is the passing of a species or environmental factor we depend on.

A tree (Calvaria Major) is facing extinction because the bird (Dodo) ate the fruit and dispersed the seed of the tree. The Dodo is extinct, and the tree is not reproducing because it needed the seed casing cracked by the Dodo's crop to germinate. What animal or plant holds our lives?

[Subdivisions]

39. You just jarred loose another bird memory from my thick head!

You are so right. The flocks of migrating birds used to be awesome! And then the trees would turn there brilliant fall colors and it would become rather quiet. But, oh boy, in the spring when they returned ready to build nests and raise another year of babies! It was like an avian fiesta!

Can you imagine what this planet would be like if humans had never happened? It would be a literal PARADISE!

[alfredo]

42. There's a book about the earth after man.

http://environment.independent.co.uk/climate_change/article2817009.ece

I'm thinking about buying it.

The dinosaurs survived the mass extinction 65 million years ago. We now call them birds. Can they do it again?

[Ezlivin]

125. Buy the book

I just got through reading it and I'm sorry to say that I've come to the conclusion that this old world would be much better off without us.

[alfredo]

126. I remember Jefferson Airplane had a song called "Eskimo Blue Day"

that starts off with these lines:

Snow cuts loose from the frozen
Until it joins with the African sea
In moving it changes its cold and its name
The reason I come and go is the same
Animal game for me
You call it rain
But the human name
Doesn't mean shit to a tree

[jgraz]

132. Check out the Voluntary Human Extinction movement

http://www.vhemt.org/

[Ezlivin]

135. Check. My wife and I have had no children

We're killing this branch of our family tree.

[awoke_in_2003]

92. If you run out of grackles

just come on down to Fort Worth. We are INFESTED with them

[Beerboy]

108. Starlings, grackles and pigeons, those are the city-birds...

they're everywhere in downtown Minneapolis and the MN State Fair, but I don't know their songs. They seem to spend most of their time cleaning up after fat drunk Americans like me!:)

[Benhurst]

4. Recommended #2

No words can express the horror of what is happening.

[Double T]

5. 6.5 Billion humans are destroying the environments and populations.....

of many other species of living, breathing creatures and botanicals. Inevitably their demise will lead to and be followed by our demise in the immediate future.

[donsu]

7. "immediate" is the word of the day

nt

[Double T]

12. 'Immediate' in geologic time has nothing to do with today, tomorrow,.......

next week, next month or next year. 'immediate' will be a lot sooner than most expect or will admit to; 'immediate' probably means in YOUR lifetime.

[donsu]

23. or next month. the Gulf Stream has almost stopped flowing

nobody is quite sure what will happen when it stops. it is slowing down because of the cold melted ice coming into the northern seas. so the Gulf Stream will stop, and soon, because the ice will continue to melt.

China just produced their 1 millionth Chery car.

[Double T]

26. It is frustrating and sad as 'the greatest extinction in 65 million years".........

is actually accelerating instead of stabilizing or diminishing. Extinction of an entire planet's population may be a necessary part of the evolutionary cycle; unfortunate that it is going to be hastened by a single, so called
'intelligent' species.

[Subdivisions]

13. The world is running low on everything that sustains us including

oil and the refuse that is the byproduct of everything we have manufactured, spilled, burned and buried is changing the fundamental chemistry that formed the world we inherited from more pristine times.

[soothsayer]

8. Gee, we cut down all the trees and build on all the fields---who would

have thunk?

[Subdivisions]

10. My heartbeat has gotten faster and faster as

I read your post. And I haven't even gone to CSM yet to read the entire article.

Why? Because I just KNEW something bad was happening. I remember when I was a child. I loved birds and I always looked for new ones I hadn't seen before. Birds were EVERYWHERE. But today, when I'm just sitting on the porch swing or playing with the dogs in the back yard, I never fail to notice the absense of birds.

Yesterday, I was sitting here reading DU and I heard a strange noise. I thought it might be a bearing or something going out in the AC fan motor and the noise was coming through the ducts. But, upon getting up to trace down the noise, I was led outside. It was a bird high up in the trees. I couldn't pinpoint it exactly because the trees are really lush because of the spring-like weather we've had this summer.

The thing is, it was a bird call I cannot recall ever hearing in my life. And I thought to myself how lonely and mournful it sounded as this bird was calling out. It called and called for several minutes to no reply. And then it was gone. Almost ghostlike. I was left with the impression of this bird traveling on a long journey looking for another of its species, as if it were the last one. I was quite touched.

My god...

What have we done?

Edited for grammar.

[donsu]

11. reading your post gave me goosebumps and tears

nt

[NotGivingUp]

14. you took the words right out of my mouth...i was going to say EXACTLY the same thing. n/t

[Subdivisions]

18. :hugs: It's not an easy thing to consider. Our world is in

big trouble. And us with it.

And it's not just the birds. There are fewer insects too, I think. But one thing is clear. We're not so far removed from our roots that we have lost our instincts. I feel instinctively that something very dangerous is afoot.

My spidey-sense is firing on all cylinders.

[NotGivingUp]

15. chills and tears...just as donsu said. n/t

[Double T]

22. ONLY when we ALL say, "My god, what have we done?"...........

will SOMETHING be done to curb this catastrophe. Thank YOU.

[CitizenLeft]

35. me too

I was going to add something hopeful, then I read your post. :( That was heartbreaking.

I was standing outside, letting my dog's out, around midnight a few weeks ago. I've allowed this tree - I don't even know what kind of tree it is, it has green hard round fruit, surely inedible - to grow right next to my fence. Sitting in that tree, on a branch not more than 2 feet from my head, was some bird I'd never heard before. It called out - I can only describe it as a deep trilling in increments. Almost a sound you'd hear in a "Tarzan" movie. Gave me chills because I couldn't see it at all, just hear it. I'm assuming it was a bird, and not some other night animal - I know what all the others sound like. I haven't heard it since.

In my yard, a cardinal family nested in my rose bush last year. Now I have cardinals flying around my house all the time. I can watch the babies getting big and their color growing in almost every day. It's heartening. Jays and morning doves are all over, too, not to mention so many species of small birds that I can't count them. I live on a street with so many trees it looks like a little forest - right in the middle of the city. The birds sing all day - in the morning, they're almost as good as an alarm clock. I guess I'm lucky. For now.

[Subdivisions]

37. Yes, you are lucky to live in an area were at least some birds

have managed to reside. I too have some birds but there should be way way more than there are.

When I was young, you couldn't go a summer day without hearing this guy:



The Bob White. And that's how he sounded too. Bob Whiiite! Bob Whiiite!

According the the NAS, they have declined by 82% in 40 years. That means that this particular species will be extinct, GONE!, in less than 20 years.

More: http://www.audubon.org/bird/stateofthebirds/CBID/profile.php?id=1

Also, just for good measure:

Texas Accepted Bird Species:
http://members.tripod.com/~tbrc/statelst.htm
Notice the extensive lack of image links for most of these species. Are they just wily or are they hard to find or are all the photogs too busy chasing Britney, Paris and Lindsay around?

[pitohui]

86. a terrible thing what happened to the bob white

this once common bird now as good as gone

as far as your question, today, in 2007, there are more people w. cameras following the remaining birds around than in any other year in human history -- i know many of them

that is the scary part

the bob white just ain't there no mo

[defendandprotect]

106. Very often, I find myself brought to tears by this -- especially when I'm with young people. . .

with new babies. Or, my own daughter getting married now and thinking of having a child???!!!!

And of the beautiful noises gone, what we've replaced them with are noise machines at every opportunity -- from sawing trees to blowing leaves about.

There is no longer any smell of clean air -- not even after a rain any more --
and we've replaced it with foul smells coming from McDonald's and Wendy's -- we no longer require venting to prevent cooking smells from permeating the air everywhere.

During this summer's heatwaves in NJ, many people couldn't use air conditioning in the cars because it was so hot. It just takes so long to cool down the car that it's not worth putting it on.
When you have to have the windows down, the odor of gasoline and oil is sickening. And the fumes and heat from the cars make it clear that we can very quickly be brought to a standstill.

ELECTRIC CARS . . . NOW!!!!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

16. Out-of-control suburbanization is one of the major culprits

The uniquely American idea that every family (no, every PERSON) should own a detached house, preferably as far out in the suburbs as possible, is not only destroying habitat but disrupting traditional stopover areas for migratory birds.

It's not just birds, either. People move out to housing tracts on the very edge of the urban area (God forbid that they should not buy a house or buy a smaller house or buy a more expensive, close-in house and make do with one less car), and then they complain about the deer and other wildlife. News flash: The deer were there first. You're the intruder.

Note to anyone considering buying a house in exurbia: What is your desire for a cheap, big house worth if you are pounding another nail into the coffin of our native birds and wildlife?

[The Backlash Cometh]

19. The NAS has to do a better job of opening awareness.

They can do this by pushing for a lobby group that will break HOA restrictions if a homeowner establishes a backyard habitat. It will require federal approval. People are fed up with HOAs because they have become a place for corrupt people to take hold of a community to usurp resources for cronies. I've only lived in one community where they operated it properly.

Also, the NAS needs to send out flyers with pictures of the birds and maps of where they should be spotted. If people realized that these birds come willingly to the backyard if you set up the right habitat, they would be more willing to help out.

The only dark cloud I see ahead, is bird flu. If you have that come into the US, no one will want to make their backyard open to the wild birds.

[wordpix]

65. I've asked NAS to help in a local fight to preserve 5 threatened/endangered birds in my CT town

The rep I talked to said, "Sorry, the wildlife protection laws aren't very strong in this state." End of subject.

If they want my hard-earned dollars as a donation, they're going to have to do better than that.

[The Backlash Cometh]

72. Sounds like they need to get politically saavy.

[wordpix]

78. the woman I spoke with IS the political liaison! She's the one who said the laws are bad but

I'll get back to ya. I sent several emails, still no action.

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. The NAS has to do a better job of opening awareness.

They can do this by pushing for a lobby group that will break HOA restrictions if a homeowner establishes a backyard habitat. It will require federal approval. People are fed up with HOAs because they have become a place for corrupt people to take hold of a community to usurp resources for cronies. I've only lived in one community where they operated it properly.

Also, the NAS needs to send out flyers with pictures of the birds and maps of where they should be spotted. If people realized that these birds come willingly to the backyard if you set up the right habitat, they would be more willing to help out.

The only dark cloud I see ahead, is bird flu. If you have that come into the US, no one will want to make their backyard open to the wild birds.

[Mabus]

21. I posted about changes in the bird population around here earlier this summer

I take the dogs for walks several times a day. I don't just take them around the block, I take them for walks through a number of nearby wooded areas so I get a pretty good idea of what is out there (not to mention that I've worked on environmental issues in my community and had to do extensive research on the local flora and fauna for rebuttals to federal and state entities in Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements that were used in court battles). Anyway, I noted that the bird populations around here don't seem to be the same. As an example I mentioned that we see cardinals more often than we used to and I mentioned that some of the more common birds around here (like blue jays) weren't as visible as they used to be and I was told by someone that I didn't know what I was talking about because they didn't notice the difference where they lived. Of course, the person who told me I didn't know what I was talking about lives in Indiana while I live in Kansas. I find no pleasure in knowing that I'm right.

[Subdivisions]

27. I'm sure there are many people who simply don't see a

problem because they perhaps are not as aware of birds, or any other wildlife, as others are. Some people just don't want to consider the consequences of their actions. Some just don't care, period.

But I can tell you this from my experience. As a younger child about 8-9 years old, my grandmother's house was heaven. And she lived in a quiet neighborhood in a wooded area of oaks, pecans and walnuts, in Newport News, Virginia in the early 70s. Her yard backed up to a creek where we had Tom Sawyer adventures, caught crawdads and bullfrogs, and fished. That neighborhood was like a freaking zoo in those days - inside an aviary!

I was just in that same neighborhood a few weeks ago and it was like a scene right out of the Twilight Zone. Silence. No birds. No frogs. No chirping insects. Just the constant hum of nearby traffic. And the creek? Forgetaboutit. And just on the other side of the creek from the backyard where I spent my young adventures exploring the world as an awestruck child...

A gigantic mall.

[GliderGuider]

29. Ocean ecologist Jeremy Jackson calls this the "problem of shifting baselines".

Each generation regards what it experienced in childhood as "normal", and judges change only in relation to that baseline. That means that most of us have only a relatively short timespan over which to judge change. This distorts our perceptions of both normalcy and change, and makes it appear that "nothing much is really happening". When you do notice changes like this, you can be assured that they are actually much larger than you think.

For a look at other ecological changes that are larger than we think, spend some time watching this videotaped lecture by Dr. Jackson:

http://maozi.middlebury.edu/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/diglectarc&CISOPTR=163&filename=164.url

The biodiversity of the oceans is in critical decline. Major drivers of the Brave New Ocean include over-exploitation, destruction of habitats, globalization of species, ocean warming, poisoning of food webs, and the rise of slime. The future of coral reefs is threatened by over fishing, trawling, introduced species, warming, and pollution, along with many other drivers of change. There is little public or general scientific awareness of the scale of the changes that have occurred or their implications for the future.

Dr. Jeremy Jackson is one of the most prominent marine ecologists in the world and he has a message to get out about the world's oceans - it documents declines in coral reefs, decreasing numbers of large marine fish, and losses of coastal and marine ecosystems. More than just an academic researcher, Dr. Jackson has actively searched for innovative ways to reach the public, applying his skills as a communicator with his scientific knowledge to inspire action.

Jackson is a professor of oceanography at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif., and a senior scientist emeritus at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in the Republic of Panama. He is the author of numerous scientific publications and books. His current research includes the long-term impact of human activities on the oceans, coral reef ecology and the ecological and evolutionary consequences of the formation of the Isthmus of Panama.

A Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Jackson has been awarded the Secretary’s Gold Medal for Exceptional Service of the Smithsonian Institution in 1997; the University of California San Diego Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Science and Engineering in 2002; and the Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) Foundation’s International Award for Research in Ecology and Conservation Biology in 2007. His work on overfishing was chosen by Discover magazine as the outstanding environmental achievement of 2001.

[Mabus]

52. What GuiderGlider said plus more

People don't seem to spend a lot of time outside anymore. I mean, when I was a kid it was common to spend part of the evening out on the front porch or taking walks around the neighborhood. Now, when I take the dogs out for walks, it is pretty rare to see anyone else out walking (except for other people with dogs). In my neighborhood (I live in an older established neighborhood, a lot of the homes were build in the 1880's) there are still some people who hang out on front porches in the evenings but it isn't the norm anymore. People are either watching tv or cruising on the net.

And to add to what you said, I remember being at my grandma's house (about half a mile from where I currently live) and spending summer nights being treated to fantastic lightning bug displays. It was like looking at the stars, they were everywhere. Now, not so much. Then again, I'm still old enough to remember when people spent evening weeding their yards. Now only one person in the household goes out and sprays the lawn with chemicals. Viola! No more evening weeding/bonding/whining sessions.

[pitohui]

87. the lightning bugs are gone too EOM

.

[Lorien]

53. Far fewer Blue Jays here in Florida, too

They used to wake me up in the morning there were so many of them. Now I go out in my yard in he early evening and I'm lucky to see one or two, as opposed to the dozen or more that were always out there. Canaries in a very big coal mine.

[Mabus]

55. I miss the sound of them bitching out other birds, squirrels and the dogs

They always seemed to find something to complain about. Just a few years ago I could go outside, just about anytime, and hear one of them squawking. That's what I miss. It's a lot quieter. And we've got a rash of mosquitoes.

[localroger]

56. Jays were nearly wiped out by West Nile

Just posted another comment -- this wasn't us. Jays and all related birds, including Crows, have close to 99% mortality due to West Nile. They pretty much disappeared from Louisiana after the pandemic, but they are slowly returning as the survivors repopulate. They're still less numerous than they once were but they're coming back; the recolonization probably just hasn't made it back to Florida from up north, where the lower population kept the pandemic from annihilating them all.

[pitohui]

88. west nile WAS us, west nile (from uganda) brought to north america by humans EOM

,

[RestoreGore]

24. This is very sad

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/276355_birds04.html

What have we done indeed. I don't hear birds like I used to here either, and the lonely ones I do hear occasionally seem to be crying out. The anger wells up thinking that the reason is humans and that a large segment in this world don't even care what their actions are doing to other species and how that comes around to effect us as well. We are truly reaping the whirlwind for our moral negligence.

[Subdivisions]

31. I mentioned in an earlier post that the trees around here

are lush and green due to the wet and mild summer we've had here in north Texas. I live in an old town in a densely wooded older neighborhood. There should be birds everywhere. But, with the exception of some grackles, thrushes and warblers, nothing. If I were to stay out there on the porch swing for the entire day I would probably see one blue jay, one robin, one cardinal and I might hear a mourning dove. And, a couple of weeks ago, I saw a charcoal robin cavorting with a cardinal.

Start here to learn about the bird declines in your area.

http://www.audubon.org/bird/stateofthebirds/CBID/

[LiberalEsto]

25. I've lived in Maryland 17 years

and have yet to see a Baltimore oriole, the state bird.

[donsu]

28. I saw them in Md. in the 50s and 60s - not many and mostly north

of the D.C. area. at that time I felt lucky to see one.

[pitohui]

89. yeah there's a long story about that

something about cowbirds following the bison, bison going (in practical terms) extinct because humans slaughtered them, cowbirds not being idiots looking for another ride, and they moved east to put their eggs in oriole's nests

when the orioles are gone, they start in on the cardinals

[KaptBunnyPants]

30. Humanity is the plague.

I'm sorry world, but you had to know when you birthed us that we came to consume you. We are action without thought, consumption without necessity, and consciousness without sanity. The only thing that will stop us from turning this into a dead world is the fact that this place will become inhospitable to human life first. Thank God we weren't able to infect other planets.

[Summer93]

32. Humans are the top of the food chain

While sitting on my deck I noticed a small bird jumping from branch to branch of a weed I had let grow. Soon it hopped onto the deck and I could that it was a Finch, so tiny. It hopped to within three feet of me and was chattering all the while. I thought how tiny and fragile they are. I haven't seen any swallows since the mall was built. They were beautiful to watch swooping to catch mosquitoes mid flight.

I am beginning to think that we humans have begun to be so good at killing, killing everything. We use insecticides without discriminating and then wonder why honey bees are dying. Now we wonder what has happened to birds - did they eat the insects that we had already poisoned?

We are poisoning the water and air that we as humans require and we expect to going on living regardless.

We don't expect that the poisons we use to rid us of ants, hornets, wasps, mice, rats, etc. could possibly harm us - now could it?

Who is next?

[Subdivisions]

34. I'm going to go out on a limb here, because I'm not a scientist

and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, and say that the problem is probably with the eggs. The birds are either becoming increasingly sterile or their eggshells or yolks are not viable.

I'm going to dig a little deeper into this and post the results to my journal.

[LWolf]

40. It's sad for the sake of the birds,

and sad for the sake of the planet.

I used to do bird counts at my feeders and send them off. Added responsibilities don't give me enough time to do adequate counts, and I have fewer birds.

Still plenty of birds to go around in my rural area, but not as many as there used to be.

[John Q. Citizen]

43. Cats are a significant cause. But certainly not the only cause. n/t

[JanMichael]

85. no, they aren't

Many pet cats today are kept inside---that's the reason that rabbits, rats, mice, etc....are all over the place.

Cats---stray cats, pet cats, do NOT have anything to do with this.

[pitohui]

90. not what the audubon society says or the american bird conservancy says

any cites you care to name?

because the reality is that feral/outdoor cats kill billions of birds

and i DO have a cite

http://www.abcbirds.org/cats/factsheets/predation.pdf

cats don't belong outdoors in north america, period, end of sentence

if you don't know the truth, don't spread ignorance, because ignorance kills

[John Q. Citizen]

94. I beg to differ. I'm not sure how you can be so sure and make such a sweeping and

absolute statement as to cats not hunting birds.

Are you aware of what the total cat population in the US is?

And you are also prepared to vouch for each and every one of those cats?

Mice, rats and rabbits reproduce 3 times a year or more while birds generally reproduce once a year. To state that cat predidation has no effect at all on bird populations seems both silly and unrealistic.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

44. Sat outside in Costa Mesa yesterday for an hour on my

lunch break. Not 1 bird. Sitting in my apt. this morning looking out at two huge trees -- no birds in 4 hours. Sends chills down my spine. It is like something out of a sci fi/horror novel.

[lovuian]

45. Bees And Birds they are dying its been going on for awhile

http://youtube.com/watch?v=YiMB-9wt8ko

http://youtube.com/watch?v=JOyqwmW5hDo

this is very wrong very wrong and yet nobody is not doing anything

[Maestro]

46. It is sad indeed.

I had a post about this when the original Audubon article came out. Click on my link in the sig if you like to see some birds.

[Subdivisions]

57. Some beautiful pics in your gallery, Maestro. And a hearty

hello from just down US67 in Cleburne!

So, what is your take on the bird situation here in our area?

[Maestro]

70. Thanks

I inadvertently responded to my own post. :banghead: Read that post for your answer. :)

[Maestro]

67. Well, we in Texas

are very fortunate in that many migrating birds pass through so we can see quite a few. From the birds that are declining in population at the national level, we can still see with quite regularity for the most part. Here in Texas the bobwhite, the lark sparrow and loggerhead shrike are quickly declining. Luckily in N. Texas, I have seen plenty of lark sparrows all summer. That is about the only time I see them though. As the weather cools, I don't see as many. The shrike certainly is a scarce bird. I have only seen two in the past 9 months. Both times I was able to photograph them though so that was fortunate. The complete article on declining Texas birds is here.

Glad to see another near progressive. Sometimes I feel like the only one even though I know I am not. Keep in contact.

[dweller]

51. The Delicate, Plummeting Bodies

by Stephen Dobyns

A great cry went up from the stockyards and
slaughterhouses, and Death, tired of complaint
and constant abuse, withdrew to his underground garage.
He was still young and his work was a torment.
All over, their power cut, people stalled like street cars.
Their gravity taken away, they began to float.
Without buoyancy, they began to sink. Each person
became a single darkened room. The small hand
pressed firmly against the small of their backs
was suddenly gone and people swirled to a halt
like petals fallen from a flower. Why hurry?
Why get out of bed? People got off subways,
on subways, off subways all at the same stop.
Everywhere clocks languished in antique shops
as their hands composed themselves in sleep.
Without time and decay, people grew less beautiful.
They stopped eating and began to study their feet.
They stopped sleeping and spent weeks following stray dogs.
The first to react were remnants of the church.
They falsified miracles: displayed priests posing
as corpses until finally they sneezed or grew lonely.
Then governments called special elections to choose those
to join the ranks of the volunteer dead: unhappy people
forced to sit in straight chairs for weeks at a time.
Interest soon dwindled. Then the army seized power
and soldiers ran through the street dabbling the living
with red paint. You're dead, they said. Maybe
tomorrow, people answered, today we're just breathing:
look at the sky, look at the color of the grass.
For without Death each color had grown brighter,
At last a committee of businessmen met together,
because with Death gone money had no value.
They went to where Death was waiting in a white room,
and he sat on the floor and looked like a small boy
with pale blond hair and eyes the color of clear water.
In his lap was a red ball heavy with the absence of life.
The businessmen flattered him. We will make you king,
they said. I am king already, Death answered. We will
print your likeness on all the money of the world.
It is there already, Death answered. We adore you
and will not live without you, the businessmen said.
Death said, I will consider your offer.

How Death was restored to his people:

At first the smallest creatures began to die--
bacteria and certain insects. No one noticed. Then fish
began to float to the surface; lizards and tree toads
toppled from sun-warmed rocks. Still no one saw them.
Then birds began tumbling out of the air,
and as sunlight flickered on the blue feathers
of the jay, brown of the hawk, white of the dove,
then people lifted their heads and pointed to the sky
and from the thirsty streets cries of welcome rose up
like a net to catch the delicate and plummeting bodies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




while not addressing directly the subject of the post, this poem struck me years ago when i first read it, and through the past, seven long years certain situations and the slow but steady crawl towards the apparant fascist takeover of this country, and the unreal environment we see developing, i find myself harkening back to it: the poet's words do seem to reflect what we are facing now, surreal and convoluted, and eerily poignant - from the public's lack of awareness, the rise of corporate/business power, the loss of the bees, the birds, wildlife in particular .... and the general public sleep walking through it all.

dp

[pitohui]

91. wow "church of the dead girls" dobyns?

that's a hell of a poem, thanks for sharing it!

[dweller]

103. i guess so, i only have his poetry

in a collection.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Dobyns

and as i wrote, i suppose it seems to relevent as you read the poem and then look at our surroundings today.

dp

[localroger]

54. It can be reversed

Here in Louisiana, the Brown Pelican was extinct and it's been brought back. I drive across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway every day to get to work (making me one of those awful suburbanites I know) but I have noted since 1992 when I started doing this that I see more and more pelicans. Nowadays I'm seeing more white pelicans like the one on our state flag. Don't let anyone tell you conservation efforts are a waste of time. When they are implemented by people who care, they work.

Some of this is just the unfortunately inevitable result of modern travel. Weed species wipe out less adaptable species when we introduce them, and not much can be done about that. Then there are pandemics. After West Nile virus got going strong, there was about a five year period when I never saw a Blue Jay. Not one. And for a couple of years I don't think I saw a single Crow. But there were populations, if small, which survived and they are repopulating. I see more and more Jays. This sort of thing happens in nature even without our interference, and nature deals with it. We're not helping that situation but we're not causing it either.

Some native species are losing out; Mourning Doves seem to be taking it on the chin as the European Collared Dove moves in. But then again, Cattle Egrets didn't need our help (as far as anyone knows) to colonize the New World. The new doves don't make that distinctive fluttery sound as they fly, but it's not like they're turning the place into a desert.

OTOH don't get me started on Starlings. Actually, we once had a pet Starling we rescued as a fledgeling from a cat. Up close Catfood was an extremely talented and beautiful bird, but we don't need billions of him. Then again, the rest of the ecosystem probably feels the same way about us *sigh*

[porphyrian]

63. The Brown Pelican was endangered as a result of DDT.

Apparently it made their egg shells so thin that they would rupture before the chicks could hatch. When they stopped using DDT, it took a while, but the populations along the entire Gulf Coast are back up (for now).

I love that you named a bird "Catfood." ;)

[MissWaverly]

58. In Baltimore, the birds are alive and well

they formed a union and start chirping when they want me to turn on the sprinkler, but yes, I think that our current greed
driven land use is bad for all of us and the other life both plant and animal as well.

[porphyrian]

60. Create bird habitats in your yard.

Put out feeders and bird baths. Grow flowering plants, which attract insects and humming birds. Put up bird houses.

Here are some links that came up on Google that I've barely looked at, but seem to have some suggestions:
http://www.birdsforever.com/habitat.html
http://birding.about.com/od/habitats/Bird_Habitat_Information.htm
http://www.audubon.org/bird/at_home/
http://www.humgardens.com/contents/wildlife/garden-attracting-birds.htm
http://www.eastbaynature.com/habitat.htm
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/247221/how_to_create_a_backyard_bird_habitat.html

[Tanuki]

119. Thanks for posting this list! Also, the National Wildlife Federation's backyard habitat program

that educates about gardening for wildlife. Even in a tiny yard, patio, or apartment balcony, there is something we can do.
http://www.nwf.org/backyard/

The bluejays in particular have been regular visitors to my birdbath this hot, dry summer. I have mockingbirds in my holly trees, and butterflies in my butterfly bushes. Last year a robin made a nest in a hanging basket of snapdragons I had put out (well, the snapdragons died because I had to stop watering them when I realized there was a nest in there, but it was worth it to watch as the baby robins were fed and then fledged). The situation is horrifying, but please know there is something you can do. Of course, in addition to doing something in our own yards, we have to act globally, because many of our "backyard" birds migrate through other areas where the habitat is devastated.

[porphyrian]

120. I noticed a lot people lamenting the problem and feeling hopeless...

...but there are things everyone can do. We've got a bunch of flowering plants, so there are bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and at least ten different species of birds, including a Red-shouldered Hawk or two. The cardinals especially love the sprinkler.

We may not have much power individually over global warming or habitat destruction caused by development, but we can do something in our own back yard.

[whoneedstickets]

61. We need a new Rachel Carson....

for a new generation.

[wordpix]

64. did anyone see the recent show on public television about migrating birds?

& the dangers they face? Not just snow and ice but also smokestacks, pollution, being sucked into industrial oil-goo like quicksand, hunters, urbanization of their flyway routes...

All over the world this is happening. :cry: It is so sad. I just caught about 20 min., I couldn't take it after that. The last part I saw was some poor boat people taking captured endangered wildlife down a river to market, probably in Asia. :cry: :cry: :cry:

Does anyone know what the show was?

[wordpix]

81. it is a very beautiful, eye-opening film but heartbreaking

[pitohui]

93. yeah probably "winged migration" one of the greatest documentaries of all time

this film would have been the 2003 oscar winner for the documentary if not for the chance of being released the same year as "bowling for columbine" by michael moore probably THE greatest documentary of all time and the one that sparked the new interest in that genre of film

[JohnyCanuck]

102. Heaven help the North American birds if they land in Barbados to take a rest,

as they're likely to get shot by the "hunters" for sport.

See my post #98 below

[puebloknot]

69. Thanks for the birds, guys/gals! Much appreciated.

[hannah]

73. we live

in a neighborhood that is a bird sanctuary. We moved here in 2005, and there were many birds. we have a feeder out near our pool. We recently had a mockingbird that never shut up. The bird sang 24 hours a day. It is gone. I bought a new feeder and hardly anyone shows up. I blamed it on the hurricanes. We live in Florida. I am waiting to see if the birds will fly south. They usually stop here.

[Gloria]

71. I have just received certification ...Certified Wildlife Habitat ....from

the National Wildlife Federation (which I learned was founded during FDR's term).

I have just put up a homebrew squirrel feeder--yes, to help them stay out of my veggie garden...But hey are stuffing their cheek pouches and the white-tail doves and other birds are now getting extra food, too, in addition to the two other feeders I have out. The cardinals are back. Plus I have a jelly feeder that I homebrewed by recycling a hanging birdbath that had developed a hole. I put a dish on it with jelly and it works perfectly. The finches and mockingbirds frequent it. Plus the 5 hummingbird feeders. The butterflies frequent the fennel and I think they breed there.

The high desert is a harsh place. But my small yard is full of life and activity.....please, I urge everyone to check out how to create a welcoming yard for all wildlife that are under duress.

[rucognizant]

83. An action if you want

Small local but..............I saw an article in the Burlington County Times a month ago, about a woman in Edgewater Park, NJ, who had planted wildflowers in her yard for the birds bees, & butterflies. Like you she was certified by the Audubon Society. The Town is fining her & driving her to "GET A LAWN" like "normal Good murikans. ( Sorry I didn't bookmark the article and save it Now I can't find it But if you would like to write as I did, here's the link to the Township officials. http://edgewaterpark-nj.com/edgewater_park_township_official_website_2006_005.htm

I myself was driven out of NJ 16 years ago by high taxes..............at that time my neighbors were removing the acid loving Pine Barrens vegetation and landscaping with turf, impatiens, and those dreadful Australian Pines that die in NJ!
Now in coastel Maone, I have had a wealth of birds....until this year. And the wildflowers in the yard have really taken off. ( I have been trying for 16 years to get something more than goldenrod, thistles and daisies. The sewer construction changed the soil ph I guess because the wildflower seed finally came up!

To be sure I rescued a lost cat,2 years ago; but he is smart, and so grateful for a good loving home, that he appears to be trainable in that respect. "No birds". However there is a rather nasty stray who hangs around, so I stopped feeding the birds except for one feeder close into the house. That may be why the cardinal family left, but them they have only been here for 5 years........It doesn't explain why the great blue heron family is NOT fishing in the tidal stream out back for the first time in 16 years! Or the loss of the mourning doves & finches!
BTW. DO you mind if I use those beautiful pix of the indigo bunting for reference? I saw one for the first time in my 68 years earlier this summer at my feeder.
It happened so fast I didn't get my camera. And I guess it wa just traveling though because I only saw it twice. What a breathtaking moment!

[Sam Ervin jret]

74. The trees, the birds, the bees, the you's, the me's..........................

[jgraz]

75. Here's one of the birds who will soon be gone from the wild

Lesser Sulfer-Crested Cockatoo



Cubby is a rescue bird who's currently in the process of being adopted by a loving family. Very soon, you will only be able to see birds like him in zoos or private homes. :cry:

[SoCalDem]

77. When I was a child, we would see a large shadow on the ground...look up.. and

it was not a cloud drifting by, in front of the sunlight.. it was a flock of parrots...a flock so big that momentarily, it blocked the view of the sun... an eclipse of reds & yellows..

and when we walked into the jungle, other than the misty , damp gloom and the occasional glowing eyes, the thing that was most noticeable was the cacophony of birds, sending out a warning as we passed under them..

[wordpix]

82. that makes me cry. The assholes in my town are ready to clearcut & bulldoze an area where 5 threat

ened birds have been documented by DEP. I have been fighting this %%$$#@*$$$ development built "for the good of the Town" for 4 yrs. First came 15 ac. of hillsides clearcut, cut . filled and leveled, then came the new schools project, all in this area where the threatened birds are.

[SoCalDem]

118. This is how I remember parrots.. I dare you to find them all :)

These are the small green ones.. The big macaws & the reds were magnificent flyers.. Seeing a toucan flying is amazing too

[pitohui]

127. hey are you the poster who was brought up in panama?

nice photo!

in this century, not in panama city, but still in the canal zone, i have seen dense flocks of the red-lored amazons like this, it's an amazing sight

i have not seen macaws in that area though, not to say they're not around, just i haven't seen them

two kinds of toucans i've seen easily there also (more if you count aracaris)

panama provides an exceptional home for birds because of the watershed required to properly manage the canal

unfortunately our migratory birds are at a greater risk, i think, because they need both summer and winter territories, as well as safe passage between

[SoCalDem]

134. I have almost been afraid to go back

just because I know the wildness of the place is vanishing.. The places of our childhood are never the same, seen through adult ideas..even if they don't change all that much..but especially when they do :(

I was there from the time I was 4, until almost my 13th birthday..

[pitohui]

136. you should go back, it's still beautiful

and panama is in a special situation to be able to protect its birds, because they can give a commercial reason -- the watershed of the canal must be protected

i think you might be pleasantly surprised

as far as i know, the highest ever christmas bird count occurred on pipeline road in panama -- 500 species obviously in december to catch both the native residents and the visitors from the usa and canada -- the smithsonian now does studies on that path, it can be most impressive for the variety and color of the species

sometimes there are even bat falcons at miraflores lock, i didn't see them there, but i saw them in the vicinity

quite impressive how they can have an up and coming, forward looking nation while still preserving an impressive amount of bird species

[Beerboy]

115. We don't see birds such as Cubby up in Fridley Minnesota!

Thanks for the pic, he's a pretty bird, and he knows it. He could also easily take your finger off if he felt like it!:thumbsup:

[peacebuzzard]

76. I miss all the birds in my neck of the woods as well

I first moved her in 88 and lived in a very rural area. Now, not the case.

Suburban cheap mcmansions surround me and my 2 acre oasis now. Gone are the woods to the bulldozers, gone are the deer, and gone are the frogs, gone are the owl and the dove, and gone is the symphonic orchestra of birds I used to have.

Knoxville Tennessee is on a mad descent to the concrete jungle. And taking with it the death of all the wildlife I used to enjoy.

I wish there was a way to curtail all the senseless building.

I will try to find a way to set up a habitat here. I thought about that at one time, and now seems to be the right time.

I will never forget the last pair of dove I enjoyed here. A prankster kid killed one of the doves with a slingshot. The remaining bird grieved for well over a week with the loneliest lament I ever heard. That poor bird cried every night for many many nights. I wonder how many more little critters that little kid went on to massacre in his lifetime? Since that incident, probably over 15 years ago, I never heard another dove.

Yes, this is a sad post.

[Divine Discontent]

80. what a little jerk he was

usually they don't change, hope he did. but yes, this is a horribly sad post, yours was even more sad, and well written, but, in it I found hope for the future with the efforts you're going to take, you give many people a silver lining to this sadness with that great idea of doing your own habitat... thanks for a great post

[pitohui]

130. while knoxville is pretty much strip mall exurban sprawl hell...

...the doves are still there

what part of town are you not seeing or hearing doves? i almost wonder if it's something peculiar to your property or neighborhood, keeping in mind that feral cats prey on mourning doves and stop them from being able to breed by taking the fledglings as they are leaving the nest and just learning to fly (witnessed this myself) and there are some feral cat feeders around -- but even then i still see doves they just have to be more cautious

i never have any trouble seeing mourning doves there and i've been there within the year, i'm not talking about 15 yrs ago?

frogs are gone everywhere, i'm flabbergasted at what has happened to the toads and frogs

but for doves, you could try trouble-shooting your property for feral cats or other predators (rodents?) that like to prey on dove nestlings and eggs, also, if you put hanging baskets near windows, doves might use that, being up against a human's home is often a good protection for them and they often choose to put their nests in such territories -- they are quick 'n' dirty nest builders, who raise babies quickly two at a time, and if the nest fails, it fails, they might try again somewhere else...?

[peacebuzzard]

138. No doves here.

Just deafening silence with the distant hum of bulldozers, hammers, and the busy enterprise of blasting away hilltops.

Around my place I have the nonstop chirping of the cicadas and my roosters. I hear an occasional bird in the distance, and every now and then a pleasant surprise visitor of a blue jay or cardinal. I was visited by a lovely snow cardinal at the tail end of winter. I do get a raven in the winter as well. At the end of the day, I have blackbirds that come to feed off the remainder of the chickenfeed along with their companions, the squirrels. But, honest, Pitohui, those lovely, singing winged visitors are rare and the silence of the birds here in Rocky Hill, (Bearden) Knoxville is very disturbing.

No doves that I have heard since that incident described above.

I really appreciate the tips for attracting birds, and I certainly plan on working out a plan for a bird refuge here. It will take some time and I will let you know how it goes.

Are you still in NOLA?

[CrispyQ]

79. Birds - one of earth's greatest treasures.

Another treasure almost gone - forever.

Will we wake up in time? Will we? Read this article & weep.

http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/issues/Issue.06-14-2007/cover/Article.cover_story/print

Drowning in Plastic
Every bit of plastic ever made is still with us—and it’s wreaking havoc on the ocean.
Jun 14, 2007
By Kera Abraham

LIFE ON EARTH depends on little specks floating in the ocean. Tiny plankton convert sunlight to energy to form the base of the marine food chain, sustaining all seafaring creatures, from anchovies to whales and the land-based animals that eat them.

But increasingly, researchers are peering through their microscopes at the specks in seawater samples and finding miniscule bits of poisonous garbage instead of life-sustaining mini-critters.

It’s plastic— broken by sunlight and water into itty bitty pieces, but still intact. And now scientists are discovering the implications of one troubling attribute of petroleum-based plastic, known since its invention, but ignored under the assumption that technology would eventually resolve it: Every plastic product that has ever been manufactured still exists.

Only 50 years since we began mass-producing it, our plastic waste has built up into a poisonous mountain we have never really learned how to deal with. It makes up 10 percent of California’s garbage, is toxic to burn and hard to recycle.

Out in the Pacific Ocean a vortex of trash swirls and grows, forming a garbage dump twice the size of Texas.

==
Emphasis is mine.

more at link: http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/issues/Issue.06-14-2007/cover/Article.cover_story/print

[entanglement]

95. Someday, there'll only be humans, rats, mosquitoes and cockroaches left on earth

[wordpix]

131. I think some cats & dogs will survive, if humans do. Questionable

[damon13]

96. odd

just trying it out

[Colorado Progressive]

97. Has anyone else noticed birds in their yards who aren't even in the right territory?

I think something is screwing up their radar or whatever it is they use to navigate. Last year we had arctic birds on our property all winter, birds that are not supposed to come south of the Canada border even. And this summer I have noticed other birds that in seven years of avid bird-watching have never shown up before.

[JohnyCanuck]

98. In Barbados they shoot migratory birds from North America for "sport."

Barbados wildfowlers attacked over 'slaughter' of birds migrating from US

By Paul Eccleston
Last Updated: 2:01pm BST 21/08/2007

Anger is growing among conservation groups about the alleged wholesale slaughter of exhausted migrating birds in Barbados.

A select group of wildfowlers are killing thousands of birds - some of them already endangered - from hides on specially-created swamps in the south-east of the island.

The wading birds are on migration paths from north to south America and use the Caribbean island as a stopping off point where they can rest, feed and recover their strength before resuming their onward journey.

It is alleged the wildfowlers use loudspeakers and recorded calls on scores of artificial lakes to lure the birds which then run into a volley of shots from repeating-rifles rather than the single or double-barrelled weapons traditionally used.

The birds are also shot on the water rather than in the air vastly reducing their chances of survival.

The hunters claim as many as 45,000 birds in the season which runs from July to October and it is alleged one gun can account for 1,000 birds in a single day.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2007/08/21/eabarb121.xml

Killing fields of Barbados

By Michael Shemilt
Last Updated: 2:01pm BST 21/08/2007

One would not normally associate the holiday island of Barbados with the highly organised annual shooting of up to 45,000 south migrating waders from Canada and the US, yet this is exactly what happens between August and November each year.

The shooters consist of the (mostly white) plantocracy and wealthy businessmen of Barbados, a small but powerful minority with considerable economic and political influence.


Greater and lesser yellowlegs searching for food

There are about 20 shallow, artificial lakes or "shooting swamps" with lures, caged birds and amplified bird calls to attract the exhausted flocks which circle down gratefully only to be met by sustained volleys of repeater shot-gun fire.

Sometimes the shooters wait for the birds to settle before opening fire. It is a point of honour to kill every bird and the swamps compete with one another for the size of the day's bag.

The flocks often consist of mixed species and none are spared. An Eskimo curlew (now extinct) was shot in the 1960's. The breasts are cut off and used as cocktail snacks.

These birds have year round protection in their home countries and there is special concern over some species; the American golden plover is one example of a rapidly shrinking population. Barbados has a wild bird protection law on its statute books which is never enforced, and it is a CITES signatory.

http://tinyurl.com/2d4eky

Here is the web site of the Barbados Ministry of Tourism: http://www.barmot.gov.bb You might want to drop them an email and let them know that you prefer to vacation in countries which aren't engaged in the wholesale slaughter of North American wildlife. The email address as given at the web site is [e-mail]

[pitohui]

128. jeez where is the sport in this?

in my brief visit to puerto rico, by contrast, there are national parks set aside both for rainforest birds (el yunque) and dryforest birds (guanica) -- well, not just the birds but entire eco-systems including rare trees

and i bet it isn't any more expensive than barbados as a vacation spot, maybe cheaper actually

[JohnyCanuck]

137. To be fair to Barbados, they do have a nature preserve as well

which is of some benefit to the migrating birds. It was a natural mangrove swamp which was used as a shooting swamp by the locals for many years and then after several changes of ownership it was bought by a Canadian millionaire who has a home on the island. He turned it into a nature sanctuary and fixed it up quite nicely with walking trails and blinds for observing birds instead of shooting at them. Here is the web site. http://www.graemehall.com and here is a photo gallery of some of the wildlife found in the swamp http://www.graemehall.com/gallery.htm . Unfortunately I understand the nature sanctuary is now up for sale again and there is a great concern in the island as to what will happen to it if it is sold off. The concern is that the immediate area around the actual swamp will be used for housing development which will impact negatively on the wildlife in the swamp. The Canadian owner made an offer to the Barbados government to turn the nature sanctuary over to the government as a gift if they declared the surrounding area a nature reserve and disallowed future development, but so far the Barbados government does not seem to have expressed any interest in the project (at least that is my understanding of the situation).

[wordpix]

133. "A select group of wildfowlers are killing thousands of birds" Who's this, Cheney & Co?

Seriously, who the fuck is this "select group?" I'd like to select these a-holes and line them up against a wall and shoot them when they're exhausteed, hungry and thirsty! :grr:

[Beerboy]

99. Thanks for the link donsu,

I love the birds visiting my property. I can recognize certain individual birds that return to our feeder, their songs and trilling brighten every day! They're almost like pets, but they're free to fly away at any time. But they always come back for a visit and sing a song just for me. How can you not love them?:)

[defendandprotect]

105. Neocons are destroyers ..... Rarely do I hear birds singing in NJ/Central --

I'm always aware when I go to Boston of birds singing --

About 15 years ago, I suddenly realized as I was driving on highways that there was only a thin band of trees left on the side of the highway -- that's all. That's all folks!!

At first when I faced the full impact of what we had done to the planet, I thought we'd be gone and the planet would go on. However, what we have done looks like we're going to be taking the planet with us!!! The planet may not keep turning and there may not be a new opportunity for animal life and nature to recover from our species' onslaught.

When Al Gore testified this year before the House and Senate . . . . as he began his Senate testimony he opened with new information about the increasing "shaking of the planet." He never got back to the subject. However, for one . . . the dams and reservoirs which our Army Corps of Engineers has built over the last half century and more are impacting the rotation of the earth.
I don't know what specifically Gore was going to say or what he'd attribute it to, but that's one cause. He did say that these reports of increasing shaking were from seismic records.

We may also have already polluted the outer atmosphere with nuclear weapons/poisons.

[AZBlue]

107. This is incredibly sad. And important. Why isn't the MSM covering it??

[illinoisprogressive]

109. my brother got me into birds. I am so sad. I remember being

thrilled when I spotted a blue jay over 10 years ago and then more. I remember them from childhood in kansas city.
But, over the past few years I really have not seen them or much more than the robins and sparrows that are abundant here.
I think I will do what I have been mulling. I paint. I do cityscapes and landscapes in europe but, have thought of doing birds. I think I will before they are extinct.

[barb162]

112. Start making backyard wildlife habitats, people!

Fresh water, plant habitat cover (fir trees, etc.), plant food sources (berry bushes, etc.)

[sanskritwarrior]

116. Shouldn't you hate every

President elected regardless of party that failed to protect the environment.......there is plenty of blame to go around......

[Highway61]

123. Wow

I was not aware of the numbers...not surprised however, just not aware. My God when when all this madness stop!

[windoe]

124. Freqencies

The saturation of the airwaves with:
cellphone signals
wireless systems
satellite signals
very low frequencies used by the Navy
frequencies used by secret government projects (the tin foil hat joke is keeping us in denial of this reality, google EMF)
inherent EMF levels that are present around all and any electrical devices and lines
noise pollution
Birds, bees and sea mammals that migrate have been exposed to a steady increase of pollution over the years, but I strongly suspect that the exponential increase in the use of these energies has somehow reached critical mass and these poor creatures are the canaries in the coalmine. The recent dramatic increase in these frequencies just adds to the effect of physical toxins on the natural world.

Thank you for this thread. I feed the birds in my suburban backyard and am one of the only ones around that do not have a 'chemlawn'. After reading this article, i have not heard many birds, this makes me so very sad. May we never have a silent spring-what a horror that would be.