5/29/2023 0 Comments Colorful cockatooIt is difficult to know how to solve this feathery problem. In Western Australia, the priest of Saint Francis Xavier Cathedral in Geraldton called for a cull, or perhaps some form of bird birth control, after corellas started chewing through the cathedral’s electrical wiring. There, they deposit plant matter on parked cars. In Melbourne, corellas have made a home in suburbs with large numbers of liquidambar trees, whose seeds they particularly like. In New South Wales, sulfur-crested cockatoos mastered the art of dumpster diving - then taught their peers. More recently, flyaway pets joining the flocks and the abundance of human food scraps have further increased breeding populations. Next, in the 1950s, the introduced virus myxomatosis razed the rabbit population, reducing competition for grain and helping cockatoo populations to flourish. Over the 20th century, large swaths of Australia were cleared for farming, robbing the birds of their habitat and forcing them to change their diet, which had consisted mostly of a native yam, to a combination of grain and weeds. Of course, none of this is the cockatoos’ fault. Despite being nonmigratory, they have established a community on Australia’s western edge, in Perth. In Sydney, they have taken up residence on the glittering waterfront. In Melbourne, they strut with a proprietorial air by the river. Residents of streets where they have migrated en masse despair of the constant screeching. And in some parts of Australia, flocks of hundreds or even thousands of the birds maraud in places where they are not desired, sometimes leaving a trail of property destruction in their wake.įarmers despise the birds for the damage they cause. Instead, the most distinctive birds are likely to vanish first.īut you can have too much of a good thing. An Uneven Crisis: The risk of extinction, a study suggests, is not randomly or equally spread across the avian family.And they do it without stopping to eat, drink or rest. An Epic Flight: In search of an endless summer, bar-tailed godwits fly 7,000 miles each year - from Alaska to New Zealand.What is it about owls that’s so beguiling to humans? Why We Love Flaco : New Yorkers have followed the escaped owl’s story with anxiety and hope. Black Vultures: If you need proof that climate change has altered the wildlife of the city, look no further than the hulking, baldheaded scavengers soaring above Midtown Manhattan.
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