Bird bird – goshawk
The News Review:
- Bird bird – goshawk
- A cat-and-bird game plays out in the streets of Tinseltown
- A cat-and-bird game in Hollywood
- CRACKDOWN ON BIRD POACHERS
- Climate ‘accelerating bird loss’
Bird bird – goshawk
Telegraph.co.uk – May 1, 2008
Thanks to its shy nature however most people are unaware of its proximity and have never caught a glimpse of this impressive woodland hunter. Immature birds have a drab brown plumage and glaring yellow irises but in adulthood they turn a beautiful slate grey with a barred chest and distinctive white eyebrow. The eyes deepen in colour too turning first orange then red as the bird matures. Such detailed views are rare though and most sightings are fleeting glimpses of a fast-moving hawk. Then it can be difficult to distinguish the smaller male from a female sparrowhawk. When soaring they can also resemble a buzzard although they have a longer tail and narrower slightly tapered wings. The sexes also display big size variations… Females can be bigger than a buzzard while the males are only a little larger than a sparrowhawk. This reverse sexual dimorphism allows the pair to maximise on the available food. The more agile male concentrates on pigeons and crows while females take squirrels rabbits and large birds (the name comes from “goose hawk”). Their speed and hunting skill explains why they have been favourites with falconers for four millennia (Attila the Hun rode into battle with a goshawk on his helmet). This same rapaciousness proved to be the bird’s undoing however. Goshawks and intensive game preservation do not mix and they were exterminated 150 years ago. Modern falconers came to their rescue however with both deliberate and accidental releases.
A cat-and-bird game plays out in the streets of Tinseltown
San Francisco Chronicle – May 9, 2008
Kourinian is no ordinary bird lover. She earns her seed money as a seamstress to the stars; she appeared in InStyle magazine tweaking Cate Blanchett’s hem and is said to keep actresses such as Megan Mullally in finery. That glittery occupation gives Kourinian the wherewithal to make a lot of pigeons happy. Kourinian once told police she spends $65000 a year on bird feed — enough to dump 500 pounds of birdseed every day a lifeline for the more than 5000 pigeons who now populate the two square miles of this neighborhood northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Kourinian is reputedly so crafty that within moments she can pop the trunk of her black sport utility vehicle scatter 75 pounds of pigeon feed and disappear into the night. She has been doing this for a decade police say but neither they nor Dodson’s small band of pigeon patrollers — dubbed “Citizen Pigeon” — have been able to stop her. “When you realize how many hours and manpower it takes to catch her.
A cat-and-bird game in Hollywood
International Herald Tribune – May 14, 2008
“She's got the perfect crime because who else would have the resources to do this?” ___ Across the nation a virtual war on pigeons has been waged in many ways: poisonings electric wires robotic falcons and even bird relocations to pigeon farms. In some places the mere mention of feeding bans has raised the ire of legions of pigeon fanciers who ridicule efforts to levy fines for tossing birds a handful of bread crumbs. But pigeons will reproduce based on the amount of food available. In Hollywood they have. Stephanie Boyles a wildlife biologist with the Humane Society who has developed pigeon control programs around the country said she's never seen anything like it.
CRACKDOWN ON BIRD POACHERS
New York Post – Jan 6, 2008
"This is a solid operation. There are usually groups of guys and they use several cars with switched license plates. They get $5 a bird to ship them off to pigeon shoots particularly in Pennsylvania. It's cruel it's wrong and it's happening right under our noses and no one's doing anything about it. " Anna Dove of the New York Bird Club who complained of the bird-napping to Queens City Councilman Tony Avella said she's battled the problem for 10 years. "We don't know how big it is but I think it's big business" she said. "Transporting birds over state lines is illegal… They get $5 a bird to ship them off to pigeon shoots particularly in Pennsylvania. It's cruel it's wrong and it's happening right under our noses and no one's doing anything about it. " Anna Dove of the New York Bird Club who complained of the bird-napping to Queens City Councilman Tony Avella said she's battled the problem for 10 years. "We don't know how big it is but I think it's big business" she said. "Transporting birds over state lines is illegal. They're not allowed to remove them from their habitat unless they have a permit. " Other advocates said pigeon-nappers also sell to restaurants although they couldn't provide any evidence.
Climate ‘accelerating bird loss’
BBC News – May 19, 2008
The main threat facing the bird came from rats an invasive species. In order to protect the population of the slow-breeding birds conservationists moved 10 adults to a neighbouring rat-free island between 2000 and 2003. The new community of pigeons is now established on the island and conservationists are hopeful that the population will reach 50 by 2010. “This has greatly reduced the extinction risk because the bird is now spread over a couple of islands” observed Dr Butchart.
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