Scott Ray had mentioned earlier that the Winged Migration producers imprinted
birds just so that they could film them easier. I was reading an article by
the film critic for Vashon Island's The Ticket that for the Arizona sequence
they dumped the birds afterward on wildlife rehabilitators Southwest Wildlife.
The director of the Southwest Wildlife said that they would take the birds if
the producers would donate funds for their future care. The next day a crew
showed up dropped the birds off and said they forgot to bring the check book.
No donation ever occurred and the birds were eventually transferred to
Primarily Primates another rescue organization. Several have died or been
lost. Many of the birds couldn't fly. When asked about this, the director's
brother said that they were denied food in order to get them to return to pens.
This practice had effects pronounced enough for some that their muscles didn't
develop properly and others died. The source for this information was the film
critic's talking directly with Vernon Weir of Primarily Primates in Texas and
Linda Searles, Director with Southwest Wildlife. Peter Ray at
pgr42 at worldnet.att.net was the author.

Ed Swan
Vashon Island
swanbarn at concentric.net