NEWS AND COMMENT: The news today from the United States, specifically Los Angeles, is that the birds of America and Canada will no longer be named after people because the previous naming of birds after people ostensibly linked to racism and misogyny is no longer acceptable because of the woke movement. And let’s be …
The RSPB say that domestic cats do not cause bird populations to decline. A bold statement that requires serious consideration. I remember addressing this issue a dozen years ago when the RSPB said the same thing then. For those who are unsure, the RSPB is the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. It …
There is a product on the market called Birdsbesafe®. They are fluffy cat collars in very bright colours. They are deliberately bright because songbirds see bright colours especially well. You can immediately understand the idea. The cat stalks a bird. The movement of his collar is picked up by the bird. The bird flies …
On their website, the American Bird Conservancy state that domestic cats that are allowed outside in the USA “kill approximately 2.4 billion birds every year. Although this number may seem unbelievable, it represents the combined impact of tens of millions of outdoor cats.” It is common knowledge that there are more domestic cats allowed …
Please complete this poll. It won’t take you more than five seconds! It is half way down the page. I think it will help because the ornithologists like to promote the idea that domestic cats kill billions of birds annually (see base of page) and this only applies to America! Ornithologists want domestic cats …
When reasonable and possible cat lovers should work with bird lovers on conservation. Cat lovers can’t fight with ornithologists indefinitely. Some ornithologists dislike cats and I understand that. But it is unwise to allow the quiet war between cat lovers and bird lovers to rumble on indefinitely. I am a cat lover but I …
If toxoplasmosis was such a threat to human mental health in the US why haven’t state and federal governments done something about it? The polarisation of views on T. gondii infections is staggering. For cat haters it is a dire threat to humanity and the reason why the domestic cat should be shot and …
Libby Watson writing on splinternews.com coins a term which I like: birdheads. It’s a derivation of ‘petrolheads’ (car lovers) and it is very apt. It applies to ornithologists and people such as Jonathan Franzen, an American novelist and essayist, who prefers birds to cats. He thinks they are more important. And he believes that …
