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Obviously, I am talking of Feral Pigeons (also called city, town or street pigeons). The scientific name of the Feral Pigeon is Columba livia domestica and that last world tells the story. The scientific name of the Feral Pigeon is Columba livia domestica and that last world tells the story.
I am so sick of the feral cat colonies that infest so many locations that I like to bird. And while I am sick of the cat colonies I am even more sick of the deluded people who believe that by feeding feral cats they are somehow helping them. Feral cats kill huge numbers of birds. Outdoor cats live short, ugly, violent lives.
The other day, Minneapolis, Minnesota passed a feral cat ordinance. So I put together a “carnival” (of sorts) of Feral Cat Ordinances and Issues that samples current events across the US. From the Star Tribune : Feral cats win a round at Minneapolis City Hall. This got me wondering what other cities were doing.
Be careful if you cross the feral cat freaks – they might protest your business, sue you, and drive you to suicide. Such was the sad fate of a New York City veterinarian who refused to release a stray cat she treated back to a feral cat freak who planned to release the cat back into a feral cat colony.
What can be done to solve the intractable problem of wildlife and feral cats? Peter, who lives in New York State, noticed two feral cats living near his house. Peter, who loves cats, has saved two of them from the normally short and brutal life of a feral cat. Ask Peter Paonessa. But they are healthy, content, and they are safe.
Dear Outdoor Cat Owners/Feral Cat Supporters, Does the photo above sicken you? I have received countless numbers of wild birds mangled and/or killed by outdoor/feral cats, such as the Orange-crowned Warbler pictured here. Outdoor/feral cat people: are you upset I posted these cat photos? It sickens me.
Much has been made in these pages about the havoc that feral cats wreak on native birds. Maybe Daleks could be trained to focus on feral cats?). Hey bird lovers, maybe getting feral cats addicted to fast food is an idea worth considering! And the TNR/exterminate debate rages on. Except, possibly, for Chicken McNuggets.)
Thanks to groups like Alley Cat Allies, outdoor and feral cats have become above the law. Outdoor/feral cat people are bullies who prey on people unable to fight back, just as their cats do with birds. This is what we need for birds, whose rights as government-protected species are violated every day by free-roaming cats.
I find it astonishing that people argue of whether feral cats are bad for birds in North America. The plethora of approaches to the feral Cat problem is not an outcome of a diversity of great ideas; it is the ugly chimera of inappropriate compromise among biased and often poorly informed stakeholders. Which would be even worse.
The birds in Florida, on the other hand, are of domestic stock gone feral. Despite their questionable background, the feral Muscovy Ducks of Florida are on the state checklist, which only makes sense as they have spread across the state wherever people have settled and provided habitat. And why is it still there?
The National Park Service is finally going to remove the feral cat colony from Plumb Beach, part of the Gateway National Recreation Area. Nature lovers, rejoice! Signs like the one above went up late last week.
The American Bird Conservancy announced a new study that feral cats prey on the endangered Hawaiian Petrel. At the risk of sounding insensitive, duh. Scientists might find it more challenging to seek out evidence of which bird species, particularly non-Arctic, island-bound species, are NOT preyed upon by birds. That would be news.
The American Bird Conservancy has been at the forefront of that fight and they have written a letter to the mayors of the fifty largest cities in the United States asking them to help stop the rising tide of feral cats. Larry has the story at The Birder’s Report.
Still, with the help of various sources, the authors have a try: Ninety million cats live in 46 million American homes; There are 100 million feral cats that live outside and eat mostly wildlife, and 50 million owned cats (i.e., Header image of feral cat with a Golden-crowned Kinglet by Isaac Grant. By Peter P.
Quantico Military Base is really behaving cruelly when it comes to the feral cats on its base. We do not support or promote feral animals on the base,” flatly stated Bruce Frizzell, head of the Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs office. Feral cats may be an animal problem, but there is a human solution.
Cory Williams, of the famed "Mean Kitty" YouTube videos (which are really funny), has a good how-to video about doing a trap, spay/neuter, and release of feral cats in your neighborhood. Tags: feral cats. The video was done on behalf of the Stray Cat Alliance.
So here is a nice story and video about a HSUS rescue of a California feral colony. Tags: HSUS california animal rescue feral cats. Haven't been into deep posts at all. It makes me want to get back into animal rescue, which is where my animal rights activism started.
But as of right now there is nowhere in the United States where a birder can see a chicken and count it on his or her list despite the fact that there is a well established and long lasting Feral Chicken population in the Florida Keys. It is time for the Florida Ornithological Society to allow for the counting of Feral Chickens.
On 14 March, 2013, the Orlando Sentinel published an opinion piece by Ted Williams under the headline “Trap, neuter, return programs make feral-cat problem worse.” Then he gave a couple of alternative solutions to the feral cat problem: There are two effective, humane alternatives to the cat hell of TNR. ” Wait, what?
He wrote a column , not for Audubon, but for the Orlando Sentinal , in which he advocated the killing of feral cats instead of the use of trap-neuter-release. Feral cats kill birds by the billions in the United States and the only real solution to the problem is removal and euthanasia, along with heavy fines for those caught dumping cats.
Two Feral Pigeons. Three Feral Pigeons. One more Feral Pigeon. One Feral Pigeon. A Hooded Crow. One more Hooded Crow. And so on… not much of a birding day, heh? I am inside the city of Belgrade, checking the theoretically possible Peregrine Falcon site. A Great Tit. Yet, not a trace of a falcon.
Shorter Steve Dale : Hey, birders, agree with me that feral cats should be left in the wild where they will kill birds. Oh, and could you volunteer to help maintain feral cat colonies? See, we can get along! Trap-Neuter-Release is a failure and leads to misery for cats and death for birds and other wild creatures.
Not only do the falcons help disperse the unwelcome Feral Pigeons, they also attract visitors. Rock Doves or Feral Pigeons are their traditional favourite quarry, and it’s one of which there is no shortage in every town. It is good to report, too, that the clergy has been generally supportive of their high-rise tenants.
After careful consideration of all of the enlightened arguments that have been made by those in favor of Trap-Neuter-Return for feral cats in recent blog posts , we here at 10,000 Birds have been completely convinced by their well-thought-out, logical, and airtight conclusions.
The misconception was revealed on a bigger screen when I got home and I saw that what I had taken to be his fingers were the spread primaries of a pigeon (or Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) if you are looking for an easy tick). It came about when Wakim arrived on his motorbike carrying two large sacks of corn.
Now if we can just get the National Audubon Society to start putting some money where their mouth is on the feral / outdoor cat issue… UPDATE – To the cat crazies I have one thing to say. Your support went as viral as the emails from Alley Cat Allies. I was touched and humbled. Thanks so much my friends.
Here’s hoping that Charles County, Maryland, stands up to the feral cat mafia and moves ahead with plans to require cats be licensed and special “animal fancier” licenses be required for those who harbor ten or more cats on their property.
But this does beg the question – What is an acceptable approach for a private citizen to take when their neighborhood is inundated with feral cats? Here’s hoping that Dauphine has her name cleared.
We have observed Pied Oystercatcher parents chase of White-bellied Sea-Eagles and unfortunately there are feral cats and feral foxes have become more prevalent too. There are numerous species of raptors around Broome including Black Kites and Whistling Kites.
State biologists are observing more and more mixed flocks and mixed pairs in the wild and these feral mallards are mating with mottled ducks, producing a hybrid offspring. These hybrid offspring are fertile, which further compounds the problem. The Meller’s Duck is highly endangered in its native Madagascar. What Is Being Done?
Contradicting this relentless shooting were efforts to establish feral populations in many regions of Europe, both within and outside its natural range. It is very likely that the white morph was directly promoted in captive breeding and favoured in releases to establish feral populations. So much for the blessings of beauty.
The lawsuit alleges that the City of Albuquerque partnered with animal advocate groups to implement a Trap, Neuter, Return (TNR) program in which stray or feral cats are trapped, sterilized, vaccinated, and then abandoned at the location at which they were trapped. Blair Dunn on behalf of Marcy Britton, a resident of Albuquerque.
Almost every single outdoor pet cat, feral cat, or stray kills other animals , no matter how well fed the cat is through other sources. Trap-neuter-release programs sound nice and let folks think that they are doing good but they actually often add to the problem , and never reach the goal of zero feral cats in an area.
The Feral Pigeon has many virtues to admire, but who is going to brag about encountering one of those? As much as I love hearing about and sharing Best Birds of the Weekend, sometimes I have cause to ponder just what that term means. Obviously, the birds themselves are not jockeying for recognition.
It is commonly kept in captivity and has therefore established many feral populations world-wide originating from escaped / released cage birds. This is what happens when people choose their pet birds on visual factors alone without taking vocalizations into account. Very stupid thing to do.
Unfortunately these are house cats, not feral, that live outdoors (for some reason). So this may not inform us much of what feral cats are doing. And daily feces analysis. But maybe the research will be extended to address that question. I’ve got a call in with the research team. Birds research'
Apparently Alley Cat Allies only wants to protect feral cats, an introduced predator that decimates native wildlife communities. And should a group dare question the wisdom of domestic cats being outdoors they are “extremists” in the eyes of the crazy cat people.
Feral Pigeons and House Sparrows are in the park year-round in numbers. This one was sitting in the sun on Friday morning, which was rather cold, and it had no problem with my getting down on the ground next to it for a portrait. Yeah, I never thought I would get a picture like this of an Ovenbird ‘s eye either.
By far the most commonly seen bird on most of the islands in the region – and the only one every islander can identify on call – is Gallus gallus (the feral chicken). Can we find a suitable island free from feral predators that would devastate the introduced species? Guam Rail Gallirallus owstoni.
KWWC also has a thriving feral chicken sideline. They see a lot of young Brown Pelicans ; they see a lot of juvenile birds in general, all of whom tend to hug the coast on their first migration. Last year, 4,000 young Peregrine Falcons swept through the Keys on their way north.
And last but not least, the ABA list is constantly growing due to the inclusion of escapes and ferals with established, self-sustaining populations. The precentage accounts for taxonomic changes, established ferals and weather conditions since these factors will likewise affect the total number recorded in the area by all birders combined.
They are popular as caged birds and escapees have established a number of feral populations beyond their normal ranges. White-backed / Striated Munia Lonchura striata Munias or mannikins (but not manakins), are small, seed-eating finches from Africa, Asia and Australia.
She sorts out the taxonomic tangles for laypeople in some of the most well-turned popular science writing I’ve had the pleasure to read, and then moves on to discuss the sparrow as symbol in folklore and literature, the great Sparrow Wars following the introduction of the House Sparrow to the US (a series of escapades that produced some publications (..)
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