In Leonard Cohen’s famous song, a bird on a wire is a symbol of freedom, but for thousands of birds it is the equivalent of being sent to the electric chair. Now, in a landmark case, a Spanish electricity company is being prosecuted over the deaths of hundreds of birds electrocuted on pylons and overhead […]
Tag: Peregrine Falcon
Biologists Find Evidence of Migration Gene in Birds
Millions of migratory birds occupy seasonally favorable breeding grounds in the Arctic, but scientists know little about the formation, maintenance and future of the migration routes of Arctic birds and the genetic determinants of migratory distance. In new research, a multinational team of researchers established a continental-scale migration system that used satellite tracking to follow […]
Call for grouse shooting to be licensed amid rise in bird of prey deaths
Labour has called for grouse shooting to be licensed after a big increase in illegal killings of birds of prey during the coronavirus lockdown, the majority of which, investigators say, are linked to the sport. As the grouse shooting season, known as the Glorious 12th, officially began on Wednesday, the shadow environment secretary, Luke Pollard, […]
Tracking technology confirms controversial cause of Hen Harrier decline
In the UK, Hen Harriers Circus cyaneus spend their summers on upland moors, nesting amongst the deep heather. They are one of our most treasured upland species, famous for their spectacular displays of sky-dancing and aerial exchanges of food during the breeding season. Sadly, Hen Harriers are also one of our most persecuted birds of […]
POLL: Is it justified to kill wild birds to protect the public?
The government’s conservation watchdog has issued licences to destroy 170,000 wild birds, eggs and nests, including rare and declining species such as curlews and swifts, in the past five years. Natural England has given permission to kill birds of more than 70 species, or have their nests and eggs destroyed. These include peregrine falcons, barn […]
Autumn Migration
Raptor and passerine migration is now well and truly underway in my region of Japan. The Chinese Goshawks have finished and now it is the turn of the Oriental Honey Buzzards, Grey-faced Buzzards, Eurasian Sparrowhawks and smaller numbers of Northern Hobby and Japanese Sparrowhawk. The Eurasian Kestrels have just arrived at Isahaya, along with the […]
Halcón peregrino (Peregrine Falcon) Falco peregrinus
Pensar que hace mas de 8 años que estoy fotografiando aves y ayer por la mañana en el Arroyo Itá tuve la suerte de poder ver a un Halcón peregrino perchando en el árbol seco de la vereda del costado de la reserva. Con las aves no hay nada escrito, solo es cuestión de conicidir […]
The radical otherness of birds: Jonathan Franzen on why they matter
For most of my life, I didn’t pay attention to birds. Only in my 40s did I become a person whose heart lifts whenever he hears a grosbeak singing or a towhee calling, and who hurries out to see a golden plover that’s been reported in the neighbourhood, just because it’s a beautiful bird, with […]