Pigeon Paranoia
The News Review:
- Pigeon Paranoia
- Rare falcon shot in Siġġiewi
- Farmers tout organic methods for raising turkeys
- A week’s worth of science news
- Grackles raise hackles
Pigeon Paranoia
New York Times – Nov 25, 2007
The only way to handle habitual overfeeders is to identify them befriend them and urge them to stop. The city can also establish designated areas for feeding. For example urban dovecotes where weekly egg culling retards population growth are a perfect place to encourage bird feeders. If New York is truly concerned about harnessing its pigeon population then a comprehensive and coordinated strategy is needed and there are a number of national animal-rights groups that can help. Such an effort would include controlled breeding in urban dovecotes increased deterrent measures like netting and possibly feed laced with birth control drugs. Most important the public must be thoroughly educated about the hazards of overfeeding which harms everyone pigeons included. (verbreeding stresses the pigeon population and can lead to starvation.
Rare falcon shot in Siġġiewi
Times of Malta – Nov 25, 2007
A member of staff at the centre saw the bird come down as it chased pigeons. "It’s just terrible – it was a really nice bird – we’ve been trying to educate people and then this happens" said Matthew Richards from the centre. There are only about 500 Lagger Falcons in the world today and they are considered to be one of the rarest species in the world as well as being extremely valuable. The falcon that was killed yesterday was the only one of its kind in Malta. The Lagger Falcon is a resident of the central and northern parts of the Indian sub-continent the Himalayas Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Farmers tout organic methods for raising turkeys
Amarillo.com – Amarillo.com (subscription) – Nov 25, 2007
“I don’t want (the turkeys) to feel anything. I just want them to kind of wake up somewhere far away and think ‘h how about that I’m dead. ‘”Wendy McGuireWell – except for one duck two peafowl two silver pheasants 10 golden pheasants 20 guineas 22 geese 40 chickens 40 pigeons and 200 turkeys. Every year for the past seven years McGuire 59 has been raising her turkeys on just a small portion of her 25 acres. It is beautifully rugged open land she named Gallina Del Sol. “We’ll never be putting our footprint on anything more than about five (acres) max” McGuire said. “We’re leaving the rest fallow – leaving it alone and letting it grow wild… “But if you raised it know how it lived what you provided for it and what its life was like” it makes the killing process easier. When McGuire catches the turkey she has designated for slaughter she pets and soothes it. Then she hangs it upside down because this causes the bird to relax and go into a sort of sleep mode. At this point McGuire is careful to tell the turkey that it has been a good bird and thanks it. Quietly and swiftly McGuire puts a knife into the brain. This causes the bird to lose consciousness quickly because of the rapid loss of blood. “I don’t want them fearful or struggling” McGuire said.
A week’s worth of science news
Toronto Star – Nov 25, 2007
The giant claw was uncovered in a quarry near Prüm Germany. Calculations showed the whole scorpion would have been 40 centimetres longer than the previous record specimen. STARLING DANGER Yet another reason to dislike the European starlings that occupy North American cities: They’re good at carrying the bird virus. Infectious-disease expert Robert Webster at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis decided to test the virus transmission in starlings because common songbirds in Hong Kong "have been dropping dead out of the sky. "Captured starlings infected with four different strains of avian influenza breathed and defecated large amounts of virus Webster and colleagues report in this month’s Emerging Infectious Diseases. They also found that the infected starlings transmitted the bug to an uninfected cage mate… These results show that starlings could serve as a reservoir for the deadly H5N1 avian flu virus if it ever spreads to North America. Millions of ducks and chickens have been slaughtered after outbreaks in Asia Europe and Africa and more than 200 people have died from avian influenza over the past 10 years. The good news is that the same lab tests showed that house sparrows and pigeons didn’t spread the virus among themselves and would be poor reservoirs for bird flu. CLD CLEAR SKIES An unmanned observatory on its way to Antarctica this weekend is expected to let modest telescopes look 10 times deeper into space than the largest ground telescopes rivalling the Hubble telescope. PLAT or the Plateau bservatory built by the University of New South Wales in Sydney features walls 20 centimetres thick to shield delicate instruments against temperatures plunging to minus 80 C. Six diesel engines will keep the observatory running through the winter while solar panels will provide summer power. The observatory is being transported 8000 kilometres to a site in Australia’s portion of Antarctica called Dome A four kilometres above sea level.
Grackles raise hackles
Corsicana Daily Sun – Nov 25, 2007
Eerily beautiful alone with their glossy black feathers and golden eyes they become the stuff of Hitchcock horror movies when they flock by the thousands onto roofs trees and power lines. Grackles don’t get much respect but they are protected under the Migratory Birds Treaty a federal treaty said Cliff Shackelford an ornithologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife in Nacogdoches. “They’re native and protected” Shackelford said. The birds cluster around the HEB and other high-traffic areas because these areas offer food shelter and water… “Like any animal if they can find food shelter and water. If we don’t control those food sources they’re inviting those birds. But how do you tell people to stop throwing away a couple of chips or the last French fry?”Grackles also raid bird and squirrel feeders Klym said. “They really like the crunchy seeds so using sunflower seeds discourages them. They’ll eat it but they prefer milo and millet. ”Grackles are also omnivores which means they’ll eat almost anything from bugs to food discarded by humans. “It makes them suitable for urban living” Shackelford said.
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