Federal appeals court reverses Texas VCPR ruling
AVMA News
NOVEMBER 4, 2024
A federal appeals court recently ruled that the clinical advice a veterinarian emailed to pet owners was constitutionally protected speech under the First Amendment.
The Owls of Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, Texas
10,000 Birds
MAY 11, 2018
Along with Hawk Mountain and the Platte River, there were two destinations in Texas near the top of the page – Padre Island National Seashore and the Rio Grande Valley. There are an additional 1,200 acres of surrounding protected refuge, supporting a documented 525 bird species! Let’s enjoy the owls of Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley, Texas.
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What to Do at High Island When the Winds are South
10,000 Birds
MAY 3, 2022
Sure, there were Summer and Scarlet Tanagers and a few “good” warblers, but most of the migrants were sailing on those south winds over our heads to other parts of Texas. Corps of Engineers to protect Galveston Bay at the end of the 19th-century. You just need to know where to look. Robert A.
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Bird Litigation: Is the Golden-cheeked Warbler Still Endangered?
10,000 Birds
MARCH 12, 2019
The striking Golden-cheeked Warbler nests only in the hills of central Texas near Austin but a substantial part of those breeding grounds have leveled in favor of development. One of the fastest growing cities in America, Austin is the capital of Texas and home of the University of Texas. United States Fish & Wildlife Serv.
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A Birder’s Guide to U.S. Federal Public Lands
10,000 Birds
MARCH 5, 2024
For example, Whooping Cranes winter almost exclusively at Aransas NWR in Texas. Thus, legal protections for endangered species and conservation generally are at their zenith on federal lands. Additionally, many federal lands have further protections. The Laysan Duck is found on only two remote Hawaiian atolls, both NWRs.
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The Whistling Ducks of Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge
10,000 Birds
MAY 7, 2019
February had brought zipping breezes and cloudy skies to this part of coastal Texas, but the birds didn’t seem to mind. Encompassing over 30,000 acres, the refuge protects birds of course, but also butterflies, mammals, and more. Have time along the Texas-Louisiana coast? What made my eyes widen?
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The Golden-cheeked Warbler and Conservation Banks
10,000 Birds
MAY 14, 2019
The endangered Golden-cheeked Warbler breeds only in Texas Hill Country near Austin and San Antonio, but much of its nesting grounds have cleared in favor of subdivisions. For example, a developer could set aside land for protection within the project (“on-site mitigation”). That would theoretically result in “no net loss” of habitat.
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Advocates launch global campaign against Aldi’s double standards
AnimalEquality.net
SEPTEMBER 5, 2024
Update 10/13/24: Volunteers gathered outside an Aldi store in Dallas, Texas, using megaphones and a life-size gestation crate to take a stand for mother pigs. Flyers were handed out to shoppers, and a leaflet was given to the store manager to pass along to corporate leadership.
Bush Earns Some Praise for Ocean Protection
Critter News
JANUARY 7, 2009
When you add the roughly 335,000 square-mile-area in the Pacific that is now protected from virtually all fishing to the nearly 700,000 square miles he closed to bottom trawling, the most destructive kind of fishing gear, this president has given future generations an ocean gift nearly the size of Texas and Alaska combined.
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100 Linda Hufford: A Rehabber Comments on “Collecting” Rare Birds
10,000 Birds
OCTOBER 23, 2015
She runs Birds of Texas Rehabilitation Center in Austin County, Texas. If he were a Minnesota dentist, or a Texas veterinarian, or a beauty contestant posing with this trophy, would his argument for justifying this death be any different? But, he continued, some – but not all – of the researchers drove him nuts.
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Owning A Fish Farm Does Not Mean You Can Kill Birds
10,000 Birds
NOVEMBER 11, 2011
Both Vu and the company were ordered to pay $40,000 to the Texas Park and Wildlife Foundation and a $5,000 fine and put on eighteen months probation after being found guilty in federal court. ” Birds are protected and can’t be shot at will, even in Texas. How bad was Vu and company?
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Reflecting on a Year of Less Birding
10,000 Birds
DECEMBER 28, 2019
Three months of non-stop morning sickness left me drained, and I cancelled planned trips to Texas and New York, where I would have added a plethora of birds to my year list. With my new job, I feel privileged to work towards protecting vulnerable species each and very day. I did not fall into that category.
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The National Wildlife Refuge System: Birders Leading the Way
10,000 Birds
MARCH 15, 2016
Individually, many NWRs protect crucial bird habitat. For example, essentially the entire population of the endangered Whooping Crane winters at Aransas NWR in Texas. Because many NWRs were established to protect migrating birds, they lie along one of the four primary flyways. It’s not just for the birds.
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Flock to Marion
10,000 Birds
MARCH 14, 2022
This spurred her to pursue a career in environmental education and wildlife nature tourism as a park ranger in Texas and as the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail Coordinator with Florida Fish and Wildlife. The marine protected area status was designated in 2013.
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Birders: A Documentary Short Film Review
10,000 Birds
OCTOBER 1, 2019
” So, it is established: this is a film about migrant birds and the people who work to protect them in south Texas and northern Mexico. ” and then adds, “The border wall is no barrier to birds.” And, “the border wall” is a character in that story.
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What is the State Bird of Florida?
10,000 Birds
APRIL 14, 2015
This common bird is also the state bird for Arkansas, Texas (another avian hot spot), Tennessee, and Mississippi, so Florida even misses points for originality. Why not choose an iconic bird that could use a little extra protection? The brilliantly blue and endemic Florida Scrub Jay? The striking Snail Kite?
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167 How to Help Cerulean Warblers, Other Migrant Species, and Resident Birds in Costa Rica
10,000 Birds
MAY 11, 2019
Such migration hotspots include the famed Magee Marsh area in Ohio, Point Pelee in southern Ontario, Cape May, New Jersey, and what might be the best area, sites on the Texas coast. To find even one Cerulean Warbler, most birders need to spend a few days birding major migration hotspots or visit a known breeding site in June.
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Endangered and Unknown: Red-billed Curassow
10,000 Birds
OCTOBER 9, 2015
Red-billed Curassow ( Crax blumenbachii ), a large, ground-dwelling bird belonging to the same family as the more familiar Plain Chachalaca of southern Texas, was never a very widespread species. This is a short series that brings attention to these incredible birds, and my various adventures to try and see them.
What is the State Bird of Colorado?
10,000 Birds
FEBRUARY 23, 2016
Instead, they are summer visitors, moving up to Colorado in the warm months to breed before returning to wintering grounds in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico. Hopefully greater focus on Lark Buntings and other grassland species will promote additional conservation measures and protect them from further population problems.
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Pet Proofing Your Home Electronics
4 The Love Of Animals
OCTOBER 19, 2012
Protecting your pet in your home starts with putting down the toilet lid, securing the garbage, and putting away stray things that they can mistake for food. Protecting your cat or dog from exposed wires, especially chewing, is simple if you make a point to keep your electrical wires off the floor. Tuck wires out of sight.
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T. Boone Pickens' Wife Proposes Horse Refuge
Critter News
NOVEMBER 29, 2008
The wife of the Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens said {November 18} that she would create a refuge for wild horses, after the federal agency that manages them said it might have to kill some to control the herds and protect the Western range. Here's hoping it works out.
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Farm Sanctuary Wary about Tom Vilsack for USDA
Critter News
JANUARY 6, 2009
I’m glad that Obama didn’t select Charles Stenholm, a former Texas congressman with a long history of defending animal abuse, who had sought the position with support from the factory farming industry. As Iowa’s Governor, Tom Vilsack took steps to protect animals, including vetoing a bill that allowed dove hunting.
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Galveston FeatherFest 2011
10,000 Birds
MARCH 16, 2011
home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Asides / Galveston FeatherFest 2011 Galveston FeatherFest 2011 By Mike • March 16, 2011 • No comments yet Tweet Share Texas has been on my mind quite a bit lately, as has spring migration. Really… you too?
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Confessions from a Christmas Bird Count in Costa Rica
10,000 Birds
DECEMBER 9, 2017
In being an organic farm that also protects mature lowland rainforest, this is one heck of a birdy place (and the food’s not bad either- actually it’s unique and wonderful)! Not to mention, identifying more than 160 species in one day this year will probably also keep me there in 2018.
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Feral Cats in American Cities
10,000 Birds
SEPTEMBER 17, 2013
Nonprofit pet protection groups would manage the program and be responsible for ensuring that cat caretakers take the required steps. In Copperas Cove, Texas. There is a petition to reverse the anti-feral cat policy.
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Manky Muscovy Ducks
10,000 Birds
MARCH 1, 2011
When this native of Mesoamerica and South America is spied in the wild, usually in some corner of the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, it elicits admiring oohs and ahs. When a Muscovy is seen anywhere else, the result is rarely as positive: “What kind of duck is that and what happened to its face?!?&# Such is the lot of the Manky Muscovy.
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221 Dog Whisperer and Philly Undercover Premiere Jan 7, 2012
4 The Love Of Animals
JANUARY 6, 2012
This season Cesar will visit to Fort Hood, Texas, where he takes a handful of four-legged army brats back to boot camp. After Dog Whisperer, Philly Undercover, the new six-part series in which the PSPCA’s undercover police team works to eliminate dogfighting and protect all animals from abuse and neglect, premieres.
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Birding and Safari-ing South Africa with the ABA
10,000 Birds
NOVEMBER 4, 2014
There were birders from a wide cross-section of the United States: Colorado, Ohio, Idaho, Iowa, Wyoming, Washington State, Pennsylvania, New York State, New Jersey, California, Texas, Florida. The leopards place their kill in a tree, protecting it from poaching by other predators. So, the best way to find a leopard is to find the kill.
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Top 25 National Wildlife Refuges for Birding
10,000 Birds
JANUARY 30, 2018
Others were established to protect specific bird species or subspecies. But they primary protect land, an essential but dwindling avian resource. Anahuac NWR (Texas). Aransas NWR (Texas). Laguna Atascosa NWR (Texas). Santa Ana NWR (Texas). Bear River MBR (Utah). Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually NWR (Washington).
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214 The “Rufa” Red Knot is now protected under the Endangered Species Act
10,000 Birds
DECEMBER 18, 2014
From North Carolina south to Texas, just under half of beaches are developed. Where suitable habitat exists, sea level rise is expected to increase efforts to stabilize the shore and protect coastal development with hard structures, such as sea walls and jetties. Birds in Delaware Bay. Photo: Gregory Breese-USFWS.
What’s in a Name: Attwater’s Prairie Chicken
10,000 Birds
SEPTEMBER 8, 2017
Henry Philemon Attwater was born in Brighton, England and spent his early adult years in Canada, but the state of Texas – which he first visited at 30 and made his permanent home at 35 – has embraced him.
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Birding the Battlefields
10,000 Birds
MARCH 8, 2012
Now, he’s sharing some information sure to improve your experience of American historical sites… When I’m not writing about sports teams and bird logos , birding ephemera , or stumbling into first state records , I’m helping protect Civil War-related national parks with the non-profit National Parks Conservation Association in DC.
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Animal Advocates' Successes Have Factory Farmers Running Scared
Animal Ethics
FEBRUARY 6, 2007
The column, which you can read here , is a call to arms to factory farmers to fight back against those individuals and organizations working to protect farm animals from the abuses inherent in factory farms. Consider Charlie Stenholm, a former Texas Congressman turned agricultural lobbyist. Doublespeak at its worst.
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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes 2015 Expansion of Hunting and Fishing Opportunities on National Wildlife Refuges
10,000 Birds
JUNE 17, 2015
Units are located along both sides of the river and serve to protect and provide a wide variety of riparian habitats for birds, fish, and other wildlife.” The refuge was established in 1958 to protect and enhance habitat for migratory birds. The refuge is already open to upland game hunting and sport fishing.
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The Parakeet of City Streets, the Monk Parakeet
10,000 Birds
JULY 21, 2014
Some articles speculate that the nests offer protection against the cold. The question is why these natives of rural areas in southern South America (east of the Andes) have been so spectacularly successful in establishing their colonies.
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ACTION ALERT! Tomorrow, MARCH 15, 2011, is the deadline for public.
10,000 Birds
MARCH 14, 2011
Texas and North Dakota together account for 88% of the total yearly kill of sandhill cranes. There is evidence that a unique Canadian prairie population of lesser sandhill cranes is being selectively wiped out, since they migrate over the most heavily hunted areas of Texas. The proposal from U.S.
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“The Hawk’s Way” — a book review
10,000 Birds
MAY 9, 2022
Some, according to her, consider it a form of slavery; a 1982 book in my library, The Birdwatcher’s Companion cites “the sentimentalist element of the wildlife protection movement” as deeming falconry to be comparable to cockfighting.).
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218 Endangered Species Act: Delisting the Black-capped Vireo?
10,000 Birds
APRIL 11, 2017
and it breeds in the scrublands of Texas, Oklahoma, and northern Mexico. The comment period closed in February 2017, and not all commenters were fully convinced, including Audubon Texas. Of course, regardless of the outcome, the vireo would, like other bird species, be protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
This Week in Bird News: Win (Gunnison Sage Grouse), Lose (Bird Flu), or Draw (European Blackbirds)
10,000 Birds
NOVEMBER 19, 2014
Finally some good-ish news for the Gunnison Sage Grouse : The boomers of the Rocky Mountain states have finally been granted “threatened species” protection. The United Nations released its new list of protected species as well, adding the Great Bustard along with the Polar Bear and other species.
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180 Trump Signs Executive Orders And Scott Pruitt Stacks EPA With Climate Change Skeptics
10,000 Birds
MARCH 9, 2017
It seems that Donald Trump, Scott Pruitt, and his band of misfits, believe that we no longer need protection of our waterways and our environment. As stated in a recent New York Times article.
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Christmas Counting in Arenal, Costa Rica
10,000 Birds
DECEMBER 12, 2015
The Texas A and M Soltis Center : I was very pleased that we could once again bird this excellent site. This research station protects a large area of intact foothill rainforest connected to the bigger Arenal-Monteverde forest block. The Bicolored Hawk we saw on the road between Luna Nueva and the Soltis Center.
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Birding under Clouds of Uncertainty: Santa Ana NWR
10,000 Birds
DECEMBER 12, 2017
When the news broke about a possible border wall through Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, I decided to make plans to visit before it got bisected by a concrete barrier. After all, each refuge has been set aside to permanently protect birds and other wildlife. Indeed, The U.S. However, prototypes have been built.
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188 Alaska Day: Birds and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act
10,000 Birds
OCTOBER 9, 2018
By protecting 25 free-flowing Alaskan rivers in their natural state, we are almost doubling the size of our Wild and Scenic Rivers System. ANILCA created, consolidated, expanded, or otherwise protected numerous units of federal public land systems, including: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.
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Snow Geese in Florida
10,000 Birds
JANUARY 13, 2021
The Sunshine State isn’t known for its massive snow drifts, nor for the massive flocks of Snow Geese that grace states like Texas and New Mexico every winter. Every year they migrate down to this Gulf Coast protected area, giving me the opportunity to observed Redheads, Hooded Mergansers, scaups, Ring-necked Ducks , and more.
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