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Amputees Go on a Dove Hunt

You would think people who have lost limbs would have compassion. Sadly this is not the case. In Olney, Texas, those who have lost limbs meet to exchange stories about their lives and "shoot doves". I am not making this up. Apparently they get a kick out of hunting down the defenseless creatures.

The "club" was established in 1972 by Jack Northrup and Jack Bishop. Seventeen people showed up at the first meeting. Apparently, not all members actually shoot doves. Some attend to enjoy the talk about life and the gadgets amputees have made to improve their lives

The doves multiply to such an extent that they are in plague proportions in 40 states. No less than 400 million are believed to exist. The hunt is not wasteful: they make a good meal. Cooks have experimented by wrapping doves in Bacon then stuffing them with jalapenos. Now the word is out the club expects to get visitors from all over the world.

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Conservation by Ty Buchanan

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Gene Bank Needed to "Save" Endangered Native Animals

There is no way that Australia can prevent the extinction of some native animal species. Some can be preserved with a national gene bank. Though a seed bank has already been set up to save native flora, nothing is planned for fauna.

Present debate is centered on the loss of the northern and southern gastric brooding frog. If a gene bank had existed the frog would have been preserved. Australia has the worst record of native animals going extinct than anywhere else, not something to be proud of. Over 40 birds and mammals have disappeared since European settlement.

Because government has been slow in allocating resources, private organizations have started gene banks. Indeed Taronga Conservation society Australia has stored genes from 20 native animals. This is far from adequate. Over 2,000 species need preservation.

With the Taronga Conservation Society Australia, the Animal Gene Storage and Resource Centre of Australia at Monash University has a total of 100 endangered species in storage. Funding from the public and enterprise supports these "frozen" storage facilities. Nothing has been added for four years due to lack of resources. Looking the other way is not the solution.

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Conservation by Ty Buchanan

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Australian Birds Change Breeding Times to Suite the Harsh Climate

Human beings may be having problems with variable weather in Australia, but animals are coping well. Zebra finches, pelicans and woodswallows seem to know when the weather changes. If the Spring comes early they nest early. If it is too dry to breed they hold off until times are better. They change their breeding point by months either way.

When glaciation was at its peak the woodswallow population actually boomed. In boom times there is a larger pool of gene carriers ideal for genetic selection when times become harder. More of the birds die off. Yet, the survivors have traits that suite the changed environment.

Australia has the harshest of climates with long periods of drought. Consequently, birds such as pelicans live a longtime on a meagre diet so they can wait for good times to breed. Zebra finches seem to do well even when times are very hard.

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Conservation

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Agriculture Disrupts the Ecosystem

Human impact on native flora and fauna is real. There seems to be no way the detrimental affects can be ameliorated. Aboriginals have been in Australia for 40,000 years. apart from the unanswered question about extinction of mega fauna Aboriginals did not alter the external environment at all.

Sedentary agriculture is the major contributing factor to habitat damage. Planting mono-crops seriously changes land features. In Western Australia, for example, water points are located at 50 sq km on average. In its pre-European natural state water holes could be found 2.5 sq km apart. This is serious change with species of native birds declining.

Unless we set areas aside as pristine, protected sectors only introduced pest species will remain. Even without the pest birds, the proportion of native birds is altered. Some die out while others increase in number. The ecosystem is no longer in balance.

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Conservation

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Northern Territory Mammals Endangered

The Northern Territory has a low population density, so it could expected that natural fauna would remain dominant over human destruction of the environment. Apparently, this is not the case. A study observed Aboriginal elders and their interaction with wildlife. Comparing findings with previous records showed a decline in the mammal population.

Only small numbers of quoll, black-footed rat and golden bandicoot survive. Nearly 50 new animals have been included in the endangered list this year. Two mammals and a bird have now been declared extinct. Small and medium size animals are affected most. Large animals are unaffected. It seems large animals such as kangaroos benefit from the presence of humans.

Planned action is proving beneficial. Improved fire control has raised the number of gouldian finches. Reptiles are doing well. Specimens of the bronzeback lizard have been found. They were thought to be extinct in the Northern Territory.

Damage has been done by the influx of animals foreign to Australia such as cats, foxes and cane toads. Farming is thought to have less impact. A major problem is that fewer fires occur in some areas. Aboriginals did practise traditional patch burning. This was good for native flora and fauna. Aboriginals should be encouraged to go back to the old ways before the skills are lost.

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Environment

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New Classification System for Bird Species

Birds are the most diverse creatures on Earth. Not only have they changed into different species on large continents, they have also adapted specifically to environments on islands.

A new classification system is in the form of a circle with increasing diversity as one moves out in time from the center. different types of birds are correctly located on the figure covering a period of 50 million years.

There is not one specific ancestor. "Base" species take the form of a circle of time moving out from the center and new kinds of birds branch off directly to the outer edge. Fast evolving birds are in red; slower ones are drawn in blue.

Significantly birds such as woodpeckers often split into new species, while hornbills, for example, did not. There was more diversification in the Western Hemisphere. Furthermore, species did not proliferate in the tropics because the climate remained stable there over a long period.

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Biology

Watch Out for Fowl Attacks

A three month old boy was brought into the emergency section of a local hospital with deep cuts to his head. X-rays showed skull fractures. In consultation with the boy's parents doctors discovered that the child had been the target of an attack by a rooster.

Such assaults are not uncommon. In another incident a sixteen months old girl had a swollen face and seizures after a rooster went for her head. She had to have intravenous penicillin. An operation was carried out to drain an abscess on her brain. Unfortunately, she died.

Adults have also been attacked. A sixty year old women developed lockjaw after being pecked on the face. She was given a tracheotomy to help her breath. To assist recovery the hospital kept her sedated for a month in a darkened room.

Chickens are dirty creatures pecking around in the dirt. Bacteria thrive on their bodies. Tetanus injections must be given when an attack by a fowl is suspected. People should be watchful of all birds. Even pet birds are unpredictable and can suddenly become violent.

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Society

Birds Learn Alarm Calls of Other Species

Birds "talk" to each other, between species! For, example it was found that fairy-wrens learn the alarm calls of other types of bird. These birds have calls with similar acoustic structures. And they learn by living side by side with other birds over time.

Alarm calls of scrubwrens were played to wrens in Canberra and Macquarie. Only fairy-wrens in Canberra (where there are scrubwrens) fled for cover. Fairy wrens in Macquarie (where there are no scrubwrens) did not respond. In another test, recordings of honeyeaters were also played to fairy-wrens. The fairy-wrens sought cover. They had learned the honeyeater calls.

Professor Gisela Kaplan believes that the behavior is not totally due to learning. She believes that the brains of birds are preprogrammed to act when they hear alarms of other birds. Tests done on magpies showed that they found cover only if the alarm calls of other birds were played close to them.

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Environment

Large Birds Are Scared Away by Low-Pitched Noise

You would think that birds are happy to live near humans as they can get easy access to food. Unfortunately, this is not the case, particularly for large birds.

Sound drives them away. Traffic noise and heavy machinery are the culprits. Larger birds use low-pitched songs to communicate. This is drowned out by engines and clunking machines.

Birds and nests were counted near natural gas wells. Compressors on the wells run day and night. The noise is like a reving motorcycle. Thirty species of bird were surveyed. The number of large birds was very low. Small birds have high-pitched songs that can still be heard over rumbling machinery, so their lives are unaffected.

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Biology

Wild Cockatoos Are Swearing at People

Australian wild cockatoos have been "infiltrated" by domesticated cockatoos who have escaped. Wild birds are copying words learned by escaped household pets. Cockatoos are not the only wild birds being affected in this way. Galahs and corellas shout out words that startle people. Escaped birds breed with their wild counterparts and chicks learn to talk from parents.

The parrot family is extremely good at mimicking sounds they hear. Songbirds and hummingbirds can also do this to a degree. The problem is cockatoos and parakeets are social animals. To wild birds a word is just a new sound to be learned and used socially. Human babbling to learn language is called subsong in birds, where chicks learn by trial and error.

Like humans, cockatoos continue to learn "words" all through their lives. "Natural" cockatoo sounds go together to form a language which has its own grammar. Human words are being integrated into this language.

A pet bird may only hear a word once and the word is remembered for life, particularly swear words that are spoken with some gusto.

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Wildlife

House Sparrows Discard Their Parasites When They Move to New Regions

The ubiquitous house sparrow found in just about every country is being examined by scientists. They successfully populate new regions by discarding their "companion" parasites. Though they force their way into new niches, they don't kill off native birds and animals with their resident parasites.

Sparrow parasites spread avian malaria. It seems that this disease is not spread to new areas because parasites that carry it are discarded. Without this deadly malady sparrows thrive.

House sparrows originally came from Western Europe. They successfully live alongside humans. The cheeky little birds get much closer than other birds to people. This enables them to get food easily.

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Biology

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