13 Dec 08 The birds and the environment fly South
This image of some white ibis flying in formation over southern Sydney may be beautiful (if I say so myself), but it’s appeal masks a disturbing undertone. During my childhood, it was rare to see these graceful birds in the suburbs. They are now very common. They can be found all over the city in great numbers, eating from garbage bins and making themselves dirty and ugly. After pigeons, they are now referred to as the new flying rats; despised urban vermin. Quite a far cry from the status these birds had in ancient Egypt where they were sacred to the god Thoth. We have no right to malign them as it is our fault they are invading our cities. Habitat destruction leaves them little choice. Other threatened species can’t make the transition to becoming city dwellers so easily and simply die out.
Farmers are not the traditional allies of environemnatlists, but as the reality of climate change dawns and river systems like the Murray Darling dry up even they are changing their tune. There is plenty of motivation to take climate change seriously when the changing environment threatens your very livelyhood. The great shame is, even as attitudes to conservation begin to make a mass change, it may well be too late.
Tags: climate change, Murray Darling, threatened species, white ibis
The way the weather is so cold and wet at the moment, I think I could do with taking the birds advice and flying south with them, preferably to somewhere really nice and warm.
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Down here in Australia, the weather is quite the opposite; hot and humid. I’m pining for a cool climate. We could always swap for a while
I moved to SC from NY 7 years ago today and I remember my first winter I kept seeing geese everywhere. I called my mom and said “THIS is where the birds fly when they leave NY. Birds fly here!” I was so excited by that.
Julie@Cool Mom Guide’s last blog post..You’re Welcome, Carolina.
hi nice pic at first i thought they were planes!
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The environment, as seen in the behavior and distributions of all the world’s species, is in the equivalent of the shaking just before an earthquake. It is a slow motion earthquake, and the main shock may be a year away, or ten years away. The anxiety created however is here now, and gives us a small chance that we will respond appropriately to lessen the impact as much as possible.
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hi i got a blog award for you. pls check here: http://sweetcarnation.blogspot.com/2008/12/blog-love-award.html
Great work! I also have my own blog I just find it hard to write quality content like this.
I guess I really don’t have the time.