GetBirding.com

Pesticide kills birds, Perth, Australia The Australian Nearly 200 ibises, ravens, gulls, ducks and a pelican were found dead or frothing and convulsing in Perth at the weekend. The discovery comes a year after the mysterious mass death of 200 birds only a few kilometres away and two years after the Esperance lead contamination scandal [...]

More good news from Birdlife South Africa. The South African government is in the process of forming a Marine Protected Area around the Prince Edward Island group (breeding site for King, Gentoo, Rockhopper and Macaroni Penguins, Wandering, Grey-headed and Sooty Albatross amongst other species). Equally exciting, 17 Pacific Island nations have pulled together to stop tuna [...]

World Migratory Bird Day was earlier this month and, as detailed here, the main drive of this event was to highlight the impact that human obstacles are having on migratory species. With migration one tends to only think about the long distance movement of birds, but the local movement of species is equally important. Birdlife South [...]

Landfill incineration chimneys scorching perched raptors Associated Press “A towering landfill smokestack offers an irresistible perch for raptors to watch for rodents scavenging in the treeless landscape below. But when flames fed by landfill gas rush upward, the birds are being scorched or burned alive. At the urging of wildlife rehabilitators, the solid-waste industry is [...]

We reported on the shooting of two California Condors here, but the hunting of birds is a global problem. Each year thousands of migratory species are gunned down in north Africa and Europe as they pass through traditional flyways. Many trigger-happy nations are responsible for this massacre, but the Mediterranean island of Malta is one [...]

“Search is on for California Condor Shooters” Not a headline one likes to read. This from the San Francisco Chronicle: The recent shootings of two endangered California condors have prompted a statewide manhunt for the shotgun-wielding poachers. The radio-collared vultures were shot somewhere between Big Sur and the Pinnacles National Monument, where they are known to [...]

Peter Dunne, well-known birder, author and the Director of the Cape May Bird Observatory, chatted to Daniel Rubin of Philly.com about his participation in this years World Series of Birding, an event which he started. Peter touches on a couple of key aspects about birding that I think are worth highlighting: “The thing about birding,” [...]

“Bird, eggs destroyed by truck on Fort Myers Beach“ Shocking news. GetBirding.com is of the opinion that all vehicles, except emergency and conservation types, should be banned from driving on beaches. Beach-nesting species don’t stand a chance against unscrupulous drivers. All vehicles have been banned from beaches in South Africa, which has made a significant [...]

The most feathers ever recorded on a bird was in excess of 25,000 on a Whistling Swan Cygnus Columbianus. The exact number was actually 25,216, and most of these were on the head and neck! This week’s fact is from “World Birds” by Brian Martin (ISBN 0-85112-891-2)

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified three additional bird species as “critically endangered.” This from the IUCN: “BirdLife International, which conducted the research for the IUCN Red List, found 1,227 species (12 percent) are classified as globally threatened with extinction. The good news is that when conservation action is put in [...]