Killer Kittycats

Domestic cats kill as many as 3.7 billion birds a year, according to a study led by a Smithsonian biologist. That’s about 15 percent of the bird population. They kill about half as many mice, voles and other small mammals annually. Not everyone is confident about these numbers, however, and it’s unclear how many of these killer cats are actually feral and aren’t anyone’s pets.

Clearly, our sweet house kitties are natural-born hunters, “snakes with fur.”  No need to kill them off, but letting pet pussycats roam outdoors is another matter. There are health reasons to keep cats indoors; now there are ecological ones, too.

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Cars Birds Love

A study commissioned by the British car service firm Halford’s has determined that birds prefer to poop on red cars. Want the cleanest car? Buy a green one or use this:

Bambi Must DIE!

“. . . wildlife managers slice intact forests into sunny woodlots that maximize the number of deer and the frequency of encounters between deer and hunters. Private landowners are encouraged by wildlife agencies to crisscross their forest acreage with tasty plantings of clover and wheat in support of what is now a burgeoning population of perhaps 50 million white-tailed deer — in some places as many as 75 deer per square mile.

Geese and Airplanes

Why do geese and airplanes collide?

“The biggest problem … has to do with the land surrounding airports. As a buffer to urban centers, most airports include a lot of undeveloped land around them. Hearty birds find this and use it as a refuge, depending on what plant, water and other natural resources are available.”

–”Why Do Geese and Airplanes Collide?” Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News

And you thought it was because they’re both big things that fly around in the sky at the same time.

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When Penguins Attack!

While alleged Republican presidential candidate and disgraced former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was in St. Louis pandering to the Gun Lobby, he visited the local zoo, as is his wont. He loves wild creatures, but apparently the feeling is not mutual. Mr. Gingrich was attacked by at least one savage Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus), a fierce South American breed that stands a towering 24 inches tall and weighs a hefty dozen pounds, a mere 300 200 pounds less than Mr. Gingrich. We cannot confirm the rumor that the attacker was wrestled to the ground by an enraged Callista Gingrich.

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Government Grounds Migratory Mercenaries

American skies are safe once more after the U.S. Government stopped sorties of soaring mercenaries. Paid pilots, cross-dressing interspecies impersonators all, have been barred from the airways by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The pilots from the so-called Occupy Birdland Operation Migration Air Force have been grounded and forced to stop transporting helpless Grus Americana youngsters across state lines for breeding purposes. Nine of the sexual captives are being held incommunicado at Alabama’s Chassahowitzka Federal Detention Facility.

Turkeys of Doom!

Next Thursday, a turkey will be a welcome guest in most American homes, but don’t be fooled. Alive and free-range, Meleagris gallopavo is a danger to life, limb, and giblets. Wild turkeys are flying into windshields and killing motorcyclists on roads across the country. In Canada, too. A bird even tried to take out a sixteen-wheeler on I-75 in Kentucky.

And the big birds have politics. Turkeys hate the media as much as any Tea Party loon:

 

Pigeons: Smarter Than You Think

Pigeons are smarter than you think. Feral urban pigeons. Rock Doves, Columbia livia, aka “rats with feathers.”

French pigeons, anyway, les pigeons sauvages française de Paris.

City Birds

“Birds breeding in city centres, or “urban adapters” … were found to have larger brains relative to their body size.

Previous studies have highlighted the link between larger brains and behavioural innovation in birds and mammals.

Scientists say this new evidence is the first to show that brain size is a key factor for animals’ survival in urban environments.”

– “Adaptable urban birds have bigger brains,” Ella Davies, BBC Earth News

 Related?:

“Human Facial Expression From the Perspective of a Pigeon,” Kara Rogers, Britannica blog

 

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Bird-Killer ‘Sully’ Sullenberger Forced to Retire by Audubon Society

Pilot Chesley Burnett “Sully” Sullenberger III, infamous for an airborne goose slaughtering episode, retired Wednesday. Bird watchers claim the powerful Audubon Society pressured him to stop flying.

Captain Sullenberger has more leisure time now, and is expected to spend much of it hunting and roasting waterfowl. 

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