In 2019 a staggering study revealed North America had lost nearly 3 billion birds since 1970 — almost 30% of the total population, with declines in both common and rare species. The figures floored even the researchers.
Tag: birding
Is San Antonio Not Big Enough for a Rookery?
With a growing list of false and stretched statements justifying its war on migratory birds, it’s time for the City of San Antonio to stop with the poop scares and make room for a bit of wildness in our parks.
VIDEO: Words for Birds 2021
Marisol Cortez Last weekend Deceleration co-hosted the 13th annual Words for Birds, a celebration and cry for protection of winged relatives for National Poetry Month. Historically an in-person reading held out of doors within the beautiful environs of Mitchell Lake Audubon Center, COVID sacked last year’s W4B, which instead became […]
Cultivator: News for March 28-April 3
President Biden’s $2T Infrastructure & Climate Plan (AKA “American Jobs Plan”) America’s Offshore Wind–Powered Future Begins in a Texas Shipyard In announcing an ambitious renewable-energy push this week, the Biden administration highlighted a vessel under construction in Brownsville as proof of the economic opportunities of going green. One Gulf-based company […]
PODCAST: San Antonio’s ‘War on Birds’ Keeps Expanding
Two years ago, the City of San Antonio launched a war on the birds of Elmendorf Lake. The target was the hundreds of cattle egrets who have been roosting at this Westside ecological gem for decades. By razing the island to the ground, and dismantling possibly hundreds of nests, the assault destroyed the nesting ground for many related migratory birds. Many young were killed.
Take Action: Petition to Save Bird Island
Greg Harman A coalition of organizations and individuals launched a public campaign this week calling for the end of the violent eviction of the birds of Bird Island on San Antonio’s Westside. The campaign calls for residents to both sign a petition targeting the San Antonio Mayor and City Council […]
VIDEO: Destruction of San Antonio’s Bird Island
City relies on dubious air strike data and public health threats for mass eviction of protected migratory birds. Greg Harman Walking in the morning with the sound of the highway behind us, Wolfi’s eyes leap after a flittering in the utility lines. It’s a still and misty morning. The tight-knit […]
In Praise of Nuisance Heronries (Part One)
How the slow attention of local women exposed an institutional war on the birds of San Antonio. Editor’s Note: This is the first of a two-part series. Read part two, “Place of Herons,” here. Marisol Cortez In 1962, Rachel Carson—government scientist, nature writer, breast cancer non-survivor, and queer woman on […]