Hi Tweeters.

The July 2013 NatGeo article on the Mediterranean bird slaughter has me stunned. As an amateur birder, I flipped open the new NatGeo issue tonight and my heart just sank. The scope and speed of the slaughter is absolutely stunning, not to mention heartbreaking, as this mass carnage is focused on migrating species. Perhaps most shocking is this is a relatively new problem, that is as much attributable to middle-class Italians as it is to desert-dwelling Bedouins and many other populations. For anyone interested, I found a website for the Committee Against Bird Slaughter that describes much of the advocacy in progress and up to date reports. I highly recommend reading the article and/or visiting the website if you have a chance.

http://www.komitee.de/en/homepage

Thanks,
Katie(Bellingham)

>
> Message: 10
> Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:34:02 -0700
> From: Jonathan Bent <bent.jonathan at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Tweeters] Fantastic NatGeo article on the hunting/capture of
> migratory birds around the Mediterranean
> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
> Message-ID:
> <CAJqAxeUnUwRePj37OrC8nbB2xpHAnsiNBm9QKvtDCehbrS+cPw at mail.gmail.com>
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>
> Hi folks,
>
> My wife and I have recently moved to Washington from Southern California,
> so this is my first post on Tweeters; sorry for the serious topic!
>
> I came across this riveting and disturbing article by Jonathan Franzen in
> the July 2013 National Geographic about the capture, hunting, and general
> mistreatment of migratory birds in Northern Africa and Europe. The article
> highlights Egyptian and Albanian cases, in particular--though the problem
> is considerably more widespread--and points to sociocultural and political
> impetuses that motivate individuals to hunt the birds in shockingly
> inhumane ways. Perhaps worst of all, it seems that tools designed by
> birders--namely playback apps--have recently made it even easier for
> hunters to lure in migrating birds.
>
> I thought the Tweeters group would find the article interesting, but I must
> warn that there are some disturbing photos/videos/descriptions of the birds
> being taken. There are certainly glimmers of hope, but this strikes me as a
> largely sad story, and an activism case in very nascent stages. It sounds
> like there is a tremendously long way to go, and much international
> collaboration to happen, before the situation turns around. Surprisingly,
> there isn't much of a mention in the article of how interested persons can
> get involved in advocacy for this issue--I wonder if any of you know?
>
> http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/07/songbird-migration/franzen-text
>
> I also noticed some overarching themes about birders getting involved in
> disadvantaged/politically divided areas in common with a Daily Show piece
> by Wyatt Cenac... This is, at least, a bit more light-hearted, but not the
> most flattering portrayal of us dedicated birders!
>
> http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-january-24-2011/bird-like-me
>
> Best,
> Jonathan Bent
> Whidbey Island (for now; Seattle soon)
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