Index – Intro – Ch.1 – Ch.2 – Ch.3 – Ch.4 – Ch.5
Ch.6 – Ch.7 – Ch.8 – Ch.9 – Ch.10 – Ch.11 – Ch.12 – Ch.13
Candidates are feral pigeons, black-backed/herring gulls, magpies and Canada geese. The main reason: they are in some cases aliens, and above all, they’re too successful to our liking. I must admit that I’ve always found it a strange bit of logic, this killing of animals we don’t like in order to increase species diversity. The most typical example doesn’t come from the world of birds, but from the grey versus red squirrel debate. I know that red squirrels retreat wherever greys encroach, but let’s be realistic about this: first of all, is it really possible to make even a small dent in the grey squirrel population? And secondly, do you really think that eradicating grey squirrels from our city parks will bring the red squirrels back? Somehow I doubt it, given that reds are far less tame with people, and would give our crowded parks a wide berth. Likewise for pigeons, gulls and magpies: we’ve created an environment that suits them, and killing them won’t bring back the birds that we claim have been displaced by the interlopers.
Even stranger is when a bird of prey, such as the sparrow hawk, makes a limited comeback after years of decline, and then gets blamed for the decline in bird table birds. Not too dissimilar to how magpies are being blamed for the robbing of nest eggs and nestlings. Why do we always feel that birds we don’t like need to be controlled? That way we just create a Disneyfied world which is as far from the ecological balance we claim to desire. The best way of doing is hands off, not continued and everlasting control.
Index – Intro – Ch.1 – Ch.2 – Ch.3 – Ch.4 – Ch.5
Ch.6 – Ch.7 – Ch.8 – Ch.9 – Ch.10 – Ch.11 – Ch.12 – Ch.13
Marnix's Bird Gallery 