Pale Male and Lola Fan Arrested - Again

He was arrested some years ago when Pale Male's nest was destroyed. Now, he's been arrested for actions surrounding the death of Pale Male's latest mate Lima.

He is very passionate about these hawks and I've followed his blog and beautiful photography for years. But he apparently took the dead bird to his place illegally. Read the story here and decide for yourself.

Too much this time?

Pale Male's Mate Lima Dies Mysteriously

The New York City red-tailed hawk has had a traumatic year and it's still February. He lost his long-time mate Lola and ended up with new mate Lima with whom he had chicks. Now, she was found dead and the question is whether she was somehow killed by toxic herbicides used in Central Park.

Awful. Warning....graphic photos.

Ugh! North Sea Birds with Plastic in Them

Pretty gross and sad. Read the full story here.

Data from studies monitoring the amount of consumer plastic eaten by sea birds suggest that levels in the North Sea are well above targets... and the figures are rising.

For the most recent monitoring period, the target amount was exceeded in well over half the birds studied, with the English Channel being the worst affected region with 74% of birds over the threshold.

Pale Male Has New Chicks

I've been following Pale Male (the red-tailed hawk that lives in Central Park) since over 5 years ago when his nest was destroyed by ritzy apartment dwellers and it created a major international outcry. The nest was rebuilt, but Pale Male and his mate Lola never had another successful nesting.

Sadly, Lola disappeared a while ago, but Pale Male has a new mate named Lima. And they have had a successful nesting.

Here is his website with photos updated daily.

Here's a video of the chicks' feeding. Cute!

Hen Harriers Persecuted in Britain

These birds of prey are being seriously threatened by shootings, poisonings and other attempts to disrupt breeding on grouse moors, probably by gamekeepers on estates. (Grouse are a bird species which the hen harriers hunt and their population is also declining. There is a great deal of controversy as to the effect of the hen harriers on the grouse. Some say they are a factor in the declining numbers.

From the Guardian...

One of Britain's most threatened birds of prey, the hen harrier, is being almost entirely eradicated from grouse moors because of systematic persecution, a new report has found.

A study by bird of prey experts has estimated that only 1% of the naturally occurring number of hen harriers are successfully breeding on the UK's grouse moors, because a large majority are poisoned, shot or disturbed to protect stocks. The study's results, described as "deplorable" by one senior conservationist, were published by Scottish Natural Heritage.

Sandpiper Species Heading Towards Extinction

Really sad.

The Spoon-billed Sandpiper, one of the world's most threatened birds, is rapidly heading towards extinction because young birds are being targeted for human consumption.

Spoon-billed Sandpipers nest only in the far north-east of Russia. In 2000, around 1,000 breeding pairs were known, but by 2009, the number had plummeted to just 120–220 pairs, a decline of 88%.

During that time, adult survival appeared unchanged and breeding success was reasonable, but the recruitment of young birds back into the adult population was zero in all but one of the years studied.

Now an international team of scientists has discovered the apparent reason behind the dramatic decline and why young birds are particularly at risk.

...In both 2009 and 2010, the team located around 200 Spoon-billed Sandpipers—the majority of the world population—wintering in Myanmar, most of them in the Bay of Martaban where local people target wading birds for food.

“The unintentional targeting of young Spoon-billed Sandpipers during the summer months explains the lack of recruitment of new birds into the breeding population,” said Zöckler.

To prevent the Spoon-billed Sandpiper’s extinction urgent action is needed, both to find ways to give local people economic alternatives to hunting birds and to persuade hunters to release any sandpipers they catch.

More Bad News for Birds in the Gulf

Here's an article exploring whether it's pointless to try to rescue oiled bird in the Gulf.

This article states that most of the oiled birds probably won't even show up before they eventually die, so we'll never know how many have actually been killed.

Another Bird Species Goes Extinct

This time, it's the Alaotra grebe from Madagascar, according to the 2010 IUCN Red List update for birds, by BirdLife International.

The report has bad news for bird species all around, identifying 12.5 percent as being endangered.

Birds Suffering from Oil Spill

Pelicans unable to fly due to being coated with oil. It's the Exxon Valdez all over again.

Several pelicans were coated in oil on Barataria Bay off Louisiana, their usually brown and white feathers now jet black. Pelican eggs were glazed with rust-colored gunk, and new hatchlings and nests were also coated with crude.

It is unclear if the area can even be cleaned, or if the birds can be saved. It is also unknown how much of the Gulf Coast will end up looking the same way because of a well that has spewed untold millions of gallons of oil since an offshore rig exploded more than a month ago.

Animal Release in Asia

Here's an interesting perspective on the practice of some religious groups' (such as Buddhist monks') practice of purchasing birds from pet stores and then releasing them. This writer contends that the birds are not suited to the wild and actually end up starving or being eaten by cats. Also, the practice of purchase and release creates a market for the capture of these birds in the first place.

The compassionate act is therefore not so compassionate after all, despite the intentions.

More on Bird Killings in UK

A lot of the killings are going on in Scotland.

Another Failed Nest for Pale Male and Lola

Pale Male and Lola are the world-famous red-tailed hawks in Central Park who caused such a sensation five years ago when their nest above a swanky co-op was dismantled due to neighbor complaints. There was such an international uproar that the nest was reinstated. Sadly though, they have not had any hatchlings since their home was disrupted.

That really sucks. It's been five years of unsuccessful nestings.

Here's a web site with gorgeous daily photos. I visit it every day and have posted the link once before. I don't know what I'll do when Pale Male disappears.

Buddhists Go to the Birds

This is a nice story about the care of abused birds at a Washington, DC, Buddhist temple.

Low Prosecution of Bird Crime in Scotland

PAH!

New figures show that in the past decade just 26 out of almost 300 cases of illegal poisoning and other crime directed against birds of prey in Scotland has resulted in a successful conviction.

And furthermore, not a single jail term has been imposed since custodial sentences were introduced in 2004 for such crimes, which are having a grave impact on the populations of some of Scotland's most iconic yet vulnerable species, including golden eagles, red kites and hen harriers.

Birds Dyed for Sale in India

Ugh!

Ordinary wild black headed munias are dyed fluorescent green, red and yellow to enhance their value. Hill mynahs, in great demand internationally, are frequently substituted by common mynah bathed in lamp black and mustard oil. With a touch of orange on the head, the ordinary rose-ringed parakeet turns into the more expensive Alexandrine parakeet. The unsuspecting buyer often with little knowledge about birds is thrilled to have got a ‘bargain’ price for a rare bird, readily buys the bird. It is a win-win situation for everyone, except of course, the hapless bird. The only silver lining is that in most cases, only vegetable dyes are used. As otherwise, the bird would die even before the sale is made! An estimated 50,000 traders in the various towns and cities of India earn their living doing this.

The practice of dyeing animals is not restricted to just birds. In the 1970s, authorities discovered that the poachers were dying the rare golden langur, grey, for the purpose of smuggling!