When it comes to conservation, everything is connected to everything else.  Most of the birds that pass throught the United States during migration either winter elsewhere, breed elsewhere, or, in many cases, spend the majority of their lovely, little lives elsewhere. Thus, efforts to protect wildlife can’t begin and end in one’s own backyard.  We [...]

BirdLife International reported last week that the EU Commission has announced that the ban on imports of birds caught in the wild is to be made permanent throughout the European Union later this year. A temporary ban was enacted in October 2005 in reponse to the discovery of H5N1 avian influenza in a UK quarantine [...]

Seth, online bookseller extraordinaire and ally to the Core Team, brought to my attention a while back the writings of an ardent conservationist better known for his modest success in politics. I’m talking, of course, about Theodore Roosevelt. A chapter in his 1916 work, A Book-Lover’s Holidays in the Open is titled “Bird Reserves At [...]

On a day as fraught with peril and opportunity as this, one likes to trot out George Bernard Shaw’s old chestnut that “democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.” Well, I respectfully disagree. The American people have yet another chance to break the stranglehold of the most [...]

So the proposed constitutional amendment that would have enabled Congress to ban desecration of the American flag   failed by one (only one?!?) vote. Fortunately, all is not lost for those lawmakers willing to tamper with the Bill of Rights to prove their all-consuming patriotism. Senator Mel Martinez (R, Florida) said any desecration of the flag [...]

Two owls in the Genus Strix populate North America. The first of these, the Barred Owl, is highly adaptable, common throughout the eastern United States and much of Canada, and in the process of expanding its range. The second, the  Spotted Owl, is sedentary, rare, and specialized, requiring very specific habitat to survive. The two [...]

Some of you may have noticed that politics hasn’t been a very welcome topic on this blog since early November. Like so many other patriots, I’ve been open-jawed in amazed disbelief at the way events have unfolded. All of my fears regarding the environment, economy, and social policy are coming true, and with gas at [...]

It’s Friday and I’m sure we all want to have a little fun. Have I got a film for you! FAHRENHEIT WHATEVER (whatever temperature it takes to make a house made entirely out of matches BURN) is a funny and compelling drama of what happens when an ordinary family asks Bush for a practical solution [...]

One thing I’ve learned during my recent research into the shooting community is that they have their act together. Bird hunting groups like Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants Forever possess broad, active membership bases and healthy streams of revenue. The more prominent birding organizations can boast similar strengths, but seem to fall behind in one critical [...]

Now that the topic of bird hunting has been broached (see yesterday’s post) I’d like to explore it further. Hunting for sport is in direct opposition to the things that we believe in. Hunting for food is a more complicated issue. I’ve certainly enjoyed eating game in the past and I’m still fond of fishing [...]

In this, the year 2004, most Americas consider themselves fortunate to be able to buy food at supermarkets and restaurants rather than have to forage vegetables and hunt game. Many take advantage of the food options afforded by our global economy to make diet choices based on ethical and medical factors instead of sheer desperation. [...]

Once every four years, this nation turns its eyes to Iowa. That time is upon us as candidates vie for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2004 Iowa Caucus. Go, Howard Dean! Since the Hawkeye State is the center of the media universe today, we’d like to take this opportunity to admire the Iowa state [...]

It doesn’t really ring in the ears, does it?  Conservation International has just released a study that predicts the loss of hundreds of animal species around the globe.  The report identifies 223 bird species, along with 140 mammal and 346 amphibian species, as being endangered and completely without any kind of human protection.  The report [...]

The Associated Press reported yesterday that the Bush administration, brushing aside concerns from environmentalists, is pushing forward with plans to give national forest managers more flexibility to approve logging and commercial activities, with less environmental review. Birders and environmentalists across the United States should be outraged. In brief, the purpose of the new plan is [...]