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