Sentinel Warning: What may the birds be telling us?, page 1
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ATS Members have flagged this thread 7 times
Topic started on 31-7-2004 @ 12:20 AM by loam
In the past few months, I began reading with mild curiosity stories of odd bird behavior, ranging from the mass abandonment of nesting sites to pelicans mistaking Arizona asphalt for water. However, as more stories of mass bird failings continue to be reported, that mild curiosity has changed to real concern.

While most of these stories have spawned independent threads on ATS, I felt it important to aggregate them in a single place. When seeing these stories in a single place, you get the very real sense that something is seriously wrong.

I have also noticed many people mentioning changes in the frequency or appearance birds in their local communities. While anecdotal, I think it important to have a single place to post these stories as well.

If there are any birders out there, I think we’d like to hear what you might have to say.

Previous ATS bird posts:

www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...

On UK sea birds

news.independent.co.uk...

On Pigeons

seattlepi.nwsource.com...

On Pelicans

www.cnn.com...
www.usatoday.com...

On Herons

www.king5.com...
www.king5.com...
www.bellmuseum.org...

On Penguins.

www.sartma.com...
www.falklandsconservation.com...

On Chinese Finches.

www.metro.co.uk...

On Vultures

news.nationalgeographic.com...

On Flamingos

news.nationalgeographic.com...

On Florida Birds

www.heraldtribune.com.../20040702/NEWS/407020390/1270/NEWS0101

On Thai Birds

www.iht.com...

On Puffins...

www.exn.ca...

Other aquatic birds...

www.audubon.org...

On Wisconsin Bald Eagles...

www.northcountrytrail.org...

On Starlings....(german)

www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de...

Four years old, but interesting....

menura.cse.unsw.edu.au:64800...

Other disturbing, but anecdotal links….

animals.about.com...
fellowshipofchristianhunters.org...
www.louisianasportsman.com...
discussions.roanoke.com...
www.goosehuntingchat.com...
cincinnatibirds.com...
capemaytimes.com...
www.birdforum.net...


reply posted on 31-7-2004 @ 01:57 PM by badkitty
Great job putting this all together. Thank you for creating one resource. However, after reviewing all of the links (other than the one in German which I can't read) it seems less of a mystery than before. Of all the stories it seems that the only somewhat "mysterious" incidents were with the vanishing pelicans, the suicidal pelicans (AZ) and lost pigeons. And even here other stories may provide insight, at least for the vanishing pelicans. For example the article on the vanishing herons in MN indicates that it is human disturbance that is displacing them - this is most likely the case in the ND pelican dissapearance.

Now the AZ pelicans divebombing the pavement and the lost pigeons do seem to be a bit of a mystery at this point. But the rest of the stories all have explanations or at least very viable theories and did you notice that in most of the explanations it is human interferance that is the culprit. Human's contributing to global warming, habitat destruction, pollution and intrusion.

I think the real mystery here is how can we be so oblivious to the damage we are causing to our ecosystem and what happened to green peace? Why aren't they all over this and pointing out that we are causing damage that can in the long term destroy our entire our entire ecosystem? There is a sentinel warning here but it has nothing to do with mysterious earth changes, it has to do with human impact and human initiated earth changes and damage.



reply posted on 1-8-2004 @ 10:13 PM by badkitty
Originally posted by frayed1
While there may be other, environmental factors affecting some of these birds, they do rely on the earth's magnetic field for migration and maybe for homing in the case of the pigeons. I have read several articles recently on the fluctuations of the magnetic field and the possibility that it is about to 'flip' north to south some time soon ( maybe in the next few hundred years, which would be soon on the geological scale). That may have something to do with the problems the birds have been having. I haven't a link, but if you do a web search, you will probably find some of those articles.


It is true that it is believed that some birds do depend on magnetism for navigation. This helps them find their way while migrating and may have something to do with why the pigeons got lost or even why the pelicans in AZ chose to dive bomb the pavement. However these seem to be the only sotries listed here that may have something to do with changes in the earths magnetic field. All the other stories have to do with birds dying, failing to re-produce and "vanishing" or abandoning their nests. None of these would be caused by changes in the magnetic field and in fact, in most of the stories they theorize (or even know) that these things were the results of poison, red tide, rising water temperatures and global warming. Remember that magnatism only guids these birds - it doesn't initiate migration, it is only a compase that my get them lost.


reply posted on 1-8-2004 @ 10:39 PM by Coatimundi
Greetings to all -
I'm new here, but saw the thread and had to respond. My wife is an animal trainer and has been for many years. One of her specialties is birds. She shows me articles similar to the various postings here and explains a lot of things to me in laymen's terms. One of her biggest concerns, as with a lot of 'animal people', is not some silly explanation about the magnetic poles although that's much more fun to believe. The simple reason is more pathetic and has been stated quite clearly in the above postings. It's us. It's people.
There're just too many of us anymore and we really don't see the slowly harmful, small things that are and will continue to happen for many decades to come. We're encroaching on animals territories and it's really upsetting a lot of little minute balances that were clicking along pretty well up to this point.
Birds are mentioned specifically here, but it's not just our feathered friends. Look up articles on bears, mountain lions, cheetahs and leopards for similar instances. Animals have an instinct to survive and will adapt to meet the continuance of their species. It's natural. Bears found out long ago that people in cars mean free food. Cheetah cubs are learning it's easier to kill a ranchers baby goat than to run down a meal. Mountain lion cubs are slowly and eerily learning that small humans and family pets are easy prey. In South America, the frighteningly large Harpy Eagles are called 'baby snatchers' by the locals because they've come to learn that it's extremely easier to grab a baby from a carriage than it is to chase fast-moving prey.
If you're not in the field or not familiar with a certain subject you'll always tend to form whatever kind of fanciful hypothesis you desire. It's when you're an expert or specialist in a particular field that you actually understand what's happening in a realistic perspective.
It's just a sad fact that we, just like the animals, have to survive also. We're not smarter, we just like money and know how to lay concrete faster.
Thanks for the interesting topic,
Coatimundi


reply posted on 3-8-2004 @ 09:49 PM by Comberman
Hi folks
I just registered with ATS yesterday and was fumbling my way around this fab site when I tumbled across this thread. I hope you don't mind me throwing my two-cents worth into the discussion.
I'm no expert on the migratory habits of birds, but we have a large garden which has lots of things that attract most garden birds and my wife who subscribes to RSPB, makes sure there is plenty of food (nuts, seed, etc) around to keep our visitors happy.
On the question of birds (pigeons in particular) navigating by magnetic or similar forces: a recent series of experiments would suggest that this is largely an old wives tale. Miniature cameras were strapped to a number of pigeons and it was discovered that the birds, contrary to popular belief appeared to use visual aids in finding their way home. For example, travelling in line with major roads and then veering off to the home site.
With respect to birds dying or acting strangely, then I have to concur with a number of posters and admit that it is human activity which interferes with what nature provides our feathered friends. The wholesale loss of habitat reduces numbers and creates confusion and unfortunately this problem will increase as more and more habitat is converted to housing estates. But the good news is that even the smallest, unlikeliest of gardens or backyards will be adopted by birds if they can be attracted into it. Plant a tree or buy a bag of peanuts.
Goodness, I appear to be sounding off. My apologies if it appears to be so.
Regards
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