I never knew that people would pit canaries against each other and gamble on them, but a canary-fighting ring centered in a Shelton, Connecticut home was broken up over the weekend. Nineteen people were arrested and charged with animal cruelty and illegal gambling. WVIT has a video report.
UPDATE: CNN says “police seized approximately 150 birds” in the raid. The birds were apparently Saffron Finches (Sicalis flaveola), a South American tanager, closely related to the seedeaters.
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.
WHAT?! I thought this was going to be a link to an article on The Onion.