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Love this thread! Birding has really enriched my life- it makes any walk down the block all the more interesting to know about the songs you're hearing and the birds you're seeing. I've worked in wildlife rehabilitation for about three years (so I see many birds up close), but the past two years I got really into birding and have been going out birding on my own a lot. I live in Queens and have access to good birding spots like Jamaica Bay and Central Park (great during migration!). It's a really fun hobby and I find that in my area, more experienced birders are really kind and helpful to me as a younger amateur birder. I have also done the Christmas Bird Count two years in a row so far and I look forward to it so much each passing year! For anyone looking to learn more at home, Cornell Lab of Ornithology offers little webinars and online tutorials on bird identification: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/courses/home/. I haven't taken any of the courses but I think it's great they offer it.
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Aug 22, 2013 16:32
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 12:05 |
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"Hope is the Thing with Feathers" is a great book about the extinction of the Carolina Parakeet, Passenger Pigeon, Great Auk, Labrador Duck and (my favorite!) the Ivory Billed Woodpecker. It is all very infuriating!
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Aug 31, 2013 14:02
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lord funk posted:So we have a passageway between two buildings where birds have a hard time. Either they hit the windows and die, or they get stuck / lost in there until they exhaust themselves. They have a really hard time finding their way out because of all the windows. This is from a bit back, but I work with injured wildlife at my job and this is a pretty classic injury for birds. Obviously you know windows are a huge problem for birds. Many times if they hit the windows and they DON'T die, they get coracoid fractures (a paired bone part of the shoulder). The injury is interesting because they can fly a bit, but they can't get any lift because of the injury to the shoulder. It usually heals pretty quickly. Other times, they get immediately stunned by the window strikes and need a little time clinging to a nice person before they fly off  . Cool bird though, I was in the only group that saw a Brown Creeper in my first Christmas Bird Count three years ago and so they hold a special place in my heart!
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Oct 13, 2013 13:10
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Lots of Snowys here in NYC and Long Island these days. Unfortunately, JFK Airport is starting to shoot them: http://10000birds.com/snowy-owls-being-shot-at-jfk-airport.htm. We got one in at our wildilfe hospital recently that was injured by jet blast (or something of that sort) at LaGuardia. The wildlife biologists there found him and saved him. Very sad stuff.
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Dec 9, 2013 18:56
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razz posted:Pretty much any bird that lands on an airport runway gets shot. I have a friend that works for APHIS and his entire job description is shooting birds that get on the runways. Raptors, waterfowl, shorebirds, tiny little warblers, literally anything. Yeah, I know. I know a couple of people that are wildlife biologists but were hired by the airport to 'harass' and shoot birds at the airports. Of course though the shooting of the Snowys is getting a lot of attention! Port Authority just released a statement that they are going to work now to trap and relocate at this point.
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Dec 10, 2013 02:15
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 12:05 |
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lord funk posted:Oh man that's great. I'm hopeful that this year's Christmas count will finally bring a snowy into the mix. Speaking of, who here does their local Christmas count? I do one on Long Island, NY! I love it. I go with the small Audubon group here, and we have a blast. Might catch the one in Queens this year too. I highly recommend doing a count if you haven't before.
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Dec 10, 2013 14:41
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