2.2.2: Birds
- Page ID
- 114242
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Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Snowy egret on New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Andrea Westmoreland from DeLand, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Birds, like mammals, have a high degree of parental care, having nests where they hatch their eggs and young. Typically, birds only lay one to several eggs at a time. Birds also have feathers to keep them warm.
Waterfowl and game – hunted birds
To hunt animals in general often require permits, and there are often bag limits, which are a limit of how many animals you can take from the environment at once. If birds live in lakes, streams, rivers, or ponds, hunted birds are called waterfowl. These include species such as ducks and geese. On land, hunted birds are refered to as game birds. This includes species such as turkeys and quail.
Raptors
Birds of prey, such as eagles, vultures, owls, and hawks, have the same influence on their ecosytems as mammalian predators. As such, they are protected by Migratory Bird Act, the Endangered Species Act, and individual state laws. Generally, these are not allowed to be hunted, and in fact, for most species, it is illegal to even have a feather except for indigenous peoples. Bald eagles almost when extinct in the 1970s because the pesticide DDT made their eggshells weak, so they weren’t able to hatch their eggs when sitting on them. As a result, if there is an eagles nest in a tree, no one is allowed within 200 ft. of the tree, whether it is on private property or not.
Songbirds and Wading birds
Like raptors, songbirds and wading birds are protected by the Migratory Bird Act. In some cases, populations are encouraged by the installation of nesting boxes and other habitat for them. In other cases, such as the barn owl on campus, they are considered a nuisance when they nest on the ceiling and spread excrement over the sidewalk below. In this case, it is illegal to move or destroy a nest with eggs, but it is accepted practice to remove nests that are in the process of being built.
Wading birds such as the snowy egret were hunted in the early 20th century for their feathers for ladies hats. Because the hats were so popular at the time, the population of snowy egrets fell drastically over a short period of time. This caused conservationists such as James Audubon to launch conservation campaigns, and this particular campaign was the beginning of the National Audubon Society. The NAS has worked tirelessly for the conservation of both birds and other wildlife species for over 100 years.