Fledglinks
- House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) shot and killed after it knocks over dominoes being set up to break a world record in the Netherlands. It's on the nation's endangered list and is a crime to shoot without a permit. "That bird was flying around and knocking over a lot of dominoes," said the spokesman for the record-makers. "More than 100 people from 12 countries had worked for more than a month setting them up." Dutch animal protection agency spokesman Niels Dorland dismissed the reson for killing the sparrow. "I think they were awfully fast to pull out a rifle. If a person started knocking over a few dominoes, they wouldn't shoot him, would they?"
- Audubon Zoo in New Orleans reopening for the first time since Hurricane Katrina. It opens on November 25th (the day after Thanksgiving) for Audubon members only, but on the 26th and 27th, the public gets in for free! If you're in the area, go and show some support.
- Utility company in Connecticut using carbon monoxide to gas entire populations of non-native Monk Parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus), which have nested on more than 100 utility poles. The Connecticut Audubon Society supports it, but Friends of Animals has condemned the program. There's a lot of research on feral Monk Parakeets. See The Institute for Biological Invasions, Monk Parakeets in North America, Monk Parakeets at Brooklyn College, and Invasive Species Weblog.
- Southeastern Raptor Center at Auburn University celebrates the opening of the Edgar B. Carter Educational Amphitheater. Carter's daughter donated $400,000 in his memory to fund the new facility. There will be a free day of education about raptors on Friday, November 18. See photos of the amphitheater being built.
- California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) breaks a wing near the Grand Canyon and is sent to the University of Minnesota's Raptor Center to recover. "There are about 56 birds flying free. But they are all birds that have been produced in captivity. This one is a first generation produced-in-the-wild bird," said Dr. Pat Redig, founder of the Raptor Center. There were only two wild California Condors hatched in 2004, and this bird is one of them.
- Michigan teen pleads guilty to killing a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). It's a felony and he could get up to four years in prison.
- Video: National Geographic shows a battle between a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) and a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox). Guess who wins the showdown.
