I'm bored, what birds are "special"

[achtung_circus]

Atticus said to Jem, "I'd rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

Now I was just out on the deck for a ciggy and a blue jay was bopping around the yard. Although there are birds I dislike for various reasons I don't shoot any and don't think the blue jay belongs on any list.

So my question is:
what other birds should be on a list of "special" birds that it is a sin to kill. I would include the Golden Eagle, a nobler critter that the fish scavenging Bald Eagle. There is also a White Throated Sparrow in the neighbourhood and the liquidity of it's call is poetry. I'd include the Western Meadowlark for the same reason and the Barn Swallow for the magic of it's flight.

I "dislike" the imports, the English Sparrow, the Starling, most non-natives, the Magpie, most of the flocking birds, crows screech.

[patrick g]

1. here's my .02

people here in nebraska say robins shouldn't be shot . . .. <shrug>

[bahrbearian]

2. Crows and Ravens

[achtung_circus]

3. OK Ravens have a special place in a variety of cultures

Odin carried a Raven on his shoulder and Ravens figure in the mythology of Pacicfic Coast and Assiniboian natives, but why crows?

[bahrbearian]

4. Southeast Alaskan and Pacific Northwest natives

believe they are departed Ancestors

[achtung_circus]

5. OK, I had thought it was Ravens, thks

[bahrbearian]

7. Ravens are higher up than Crow's I'm not sure of their

spiritual meaning though.

[candy]

8. You beat me to it!

Crows are awesome!!!

[Bertha Venation]

6. common birds

House sparrows top my list. The commoner they are, the more special to me. Seagulls are second. Starlings, grackles, crows are also on my personal "special" list.

We feed birds in the backyard: we get

goldfinches
nuthatches
black-capped chickadees
titmice
house sparrows
white-throated sparrows
carolina wrens
starlings
boat-tailed and purple grackles
house finches
purple finches
cardinals
red-bellied woodpeckers
downy woodpeckers
hairy woodpeckers
red-wing blackbirds
indigo buntings
hummingbirds

many, many more. they're all special.

[achtung_circus]

9. Maybe I was looking for "magic" rather than "special"

and I say that I generally don't find gregarious birds "special" but Yellow-headed Blackbirds in a world of Red-winged Blackbirds have a special place in my heart, perhaps because they aren't common in many areas.

[Bertha Venation]

10. hmmm... magic? Blue Heron.

My absolute favorite magic bird. They take my breath away, whether I see them standing, stalking breakfast, or in flight.

[amazona]

19. flocking birds can be magical

Find a staging ground for Wood Storks or a rookery of Roseate Spoonbills and get back to me. There can indeed be magic and magnificence in large numbers. Even a staging of thousands of Northern ROugh-Wings (not usually the most noticeable of birds) can be impressive, almost spooky.

An unforgettable moment occurred to me a couple years ago when a huge flock, thousands upon thousands, of all adult male Red-Winged Blackbirds landed in a blanket to cover my lawn, the neighbors' lawns, the street, etc. Like a black carpet. Then they all jumped up, and swooped and turned, all flashing their red patches the color of blood at once...It was unreal. Never seen anything like it before or since. I understand and accept the need for depredation orders in agricultural areas for this robust species but I equally believe that seeing a large flock like that, moving in unison, as if choreographed...it is probably as close as we can come to even imagining the great flocks of birds of the pioneer days.

[achtung_circus]

23. you're right, of course

When I lived on the prairies I watched each sprimg and fall for the migration of the Sandhill Cranes.
Always very high, flocks of hundreds and thousands circling, circling in a generally north or south direction, eating up the sky in spite of their soaring circles, with the crawwwk filtering down to ground level.

[Gildor Inglorion]

11. Bluebirds!

They almost went extinct, but are now making a tentative comeback. They're wonderful little birds that deserve special consideration. On the other hand, the imported, non-native starling ought to be shot on sight. They're aggressive, swaggering, bullying GWBush-like critters flourishing much too well out of their natural habitat. Some moron released several in Central Park in the 19th century because he wanted all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare's works to exist in the USA.

[achtung_circus]

13. That's where the English Sparrow came from

at the expense of the native White-Throated Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, many of the Wrens. They weren't prepared to compete for living space with the brash newcomers.

[flowomo]

12. Mockingbirds... you only need one and you have all the rest!

[achtung_circus]

14. or perhaps their close relative

the Brown Thrasher.

I don't think I've ever seen a Mockingbird, wrong climate. Many years ago, though a pair of Brown Thrashers set up housekeeping in my back yard in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. They had no business being that far north, but they made that summer a joy.

[catzies]

32. My favorite. And they're safe because killing them's a sin.

:P

[FizzFuzz]

15. Owls

Owls are magical in many cultures; they were sacred to Athena, goddess of wisdom (and war, sigh. Oh well, gods and goddesses have to symbolize the good and the bad both, I guess. Its all part of duality.)

[Teddy_Salad]

20. I agree, FizzFuzz

Owls are beautiful and very special.

My favorite of all creatures.

[FizzFuzz]

21. And aren't they so cute, too?

I love their big big eyes and their little bitty noses. Owls rule.

[BraveDave]

16. Pileated Woodpeckers

[Hand]

30. Yeah...

They're VERY cool. I nominate the flicker as well. :loveya:

[nuxvomica]

17. The albatross

from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

...

The land of ice, and of fearful sounds where no living thing was to be seen.

And through the drifts the snowy clifts
Did send a dismal sheen :
Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken--
The ice was all between.
The ice was here, the ice was there,
The ice was all around :
It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,
Like noises in a swound !

Till a great sea-bird, called the Albatross, came through the snow-fog, and was received with great joy and hospitality.

At length did cross an Albatross,
Thorough the fog it came ;
As if it had been a Christian soul,
We hailed it in God's name.
It ate the food it ne'er had eat,
And round and round it flew.
The ice did split with a thunder-fit ;
The helmsman steered us through !

And lo ! the Albatross proveth a bird of good omen, and followeth the ship as it returned northward through fog and floating ice.

And a good south wind sprung up behind ;
The Albatross did follow,
And every day, for food or play,
Came to the mariner's hollo !
In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud,
It perched for vespers nine ;
Whiles all the night, through fog-smoke white,
Glimmered the white Moon-shine.'

The ancient Mariner inhospitably killeth the pious bird of good omen.

`God save thee, ancient Mariner !
From the fiends, that plague thee thus !--
Why look'st thou so ?'--With my cross-bow
I shot the ALBATROSS.

PART II

The Sun now rose upon the right :
Out of the sea came he,
Still hid in mist, and on the left
Went down into the sea.
And the good south wind still blew behind,
But no sweet bird did follow,
Nor any day for food or play
Came to the mariners' hollo !

His shipmates cry out against the ancient Mariner, for killing the bird of good luck.

And I had done an hellish thing,
And it would work 'em woe :
For all averred, I had killed the bird
That made the breeze to blow.
Ah wretch ! said they, the bird to slay,
That made the breeze to blow !

...

[amazona]

18. blue jays are special, sure

It was just as illegal to shoot Blue Jays as Mockingbirds at the time Atticus made his famous statement, and of course still is. My Mockingbirds are infinitely more bad-tempered than my Blue Jays, but maybe fictional Mockingbirds just sit around singing all day instead of beating the bejesus out of everything from cats to Crows. When in a particularly mean-spirited mood, mine will even chase my Cardinals, although let's face it, how do you get any more harmless than a Cardinal. I don't dislike my Mockers though, I find them an endless source of entertainment because of their pugnacious temperament.

I can't think of any bird I dislike. The "english" sparrow is now called the "house" sparrow, and it is virtually extinct in its native London; it and the European Starling have been Red-Listed for Great Britain.

When you hear a lot of crows screeching (have to admit, I never heard their voice described as a screech before but whatever) check it out. It often means they have found an Owl or an Eagle.

I'm guessing America's most hated bird is the Canada Goose but I don't have anything against them; of course, their population stays rather reasonable where I live...knock on wood.

[TreasonousBastard]

22. Besides the Canada goose...

there are those damn cowbirds.

The ones that always lay their eggs in someone else's nest and the chicks are often bigger than the ones that belong there, so they get all the food.

And pigeons. Don't forget pigeons. City pigeons-- the ones cats don't mess with.

Shoot all the cowbirds, pigeons, starlings and nesting geese you can find. That should be more than enough shooting for anyone.

Seagulls would be on the list, but they flock together, so it's tough to separate the nasties from the uncommon and endangered ones. Or the just plain interesting ones.

[achtung_circus]

24. But I don't intend to shoot anything.

This is a mental exercise for a Sunday.

[Kat45]

25. Each bird is special in his or her own way.

I know that doesn't address the question in the way you're looking for, but I absolutely love birds and hate the thought of anyone harming even a feather on those beautiful creatures.

[Crunchy Frog]

26. I believe that there is a national law

against the killing of all types of native songbirds, ie members of Passeriformes. That includes bluejays, magpies, crows, and ravens. I am speaking as someone who has worked in wildlife rehabilitation for a number of years.

We have called the police on people on the basis of similar reports.

You may want to do some of your own research to learn exactly what the law says.

[amazona]

28. you are correct Migratory Bird Treat Act of 1918

http://laws.fws.gov/lawsdigest/migtrea.html

It pretty much covers ALL native bird species found in the United States and has since been signed by several other nations. The short version is that birds native to the U.S. can't be shot unless you have the proper paperwork -- a proper hunting license if you're a duck or turkey hunter, say, or a depredation order if you are protecting an agricultural resource from birds. People haven't been legally entitled to go out shooting Blue Jays for many a decade; while seldom enforced, it is indeed a federal offense.

Non-native feral and introduced birds do not enjoy the same protection so people removing non-native House Sparrows from a Purple Martin roost, for example, don't need to file for permission before doing so. Or if as someone mentioned above, if European Starlings are interfering with their Bluebirds, they can be dealt with without a need for any paperwork.

[Redleg]

27. Roasted chicken.

Yum Yum!

[LWolf]

29. All of them.

It should be a crime to kill anything without cause. Killing because you don't like them is not a just cause. If it were, I would have dispatched many humans during my lifetime. :evilgrin:

I don't like starlings and other non-natives, because they interfere with the natives. I get irritated when the sparrows and finches steal my hen's feed. And I'm not fond of pigeons roosting in the eaves. But for the most part, I love having the birds around.

[oldcoot]

31. Don't Kill Magpies

They are very beautiful and intelligent. A long time ago, I raised an abandoned baby magpie and released him/her into the wild. This bird was very intelligent and affectionate. I cannot imagine killing such a wonderful bird.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

33. Scrub Jays

A friend of mine was a local Sierra Club member and took me to this scrub area near Venice, FL (somewhere I believe we shouldn't have been).
These birds are so unafraid of people. We called them and they came to us and landed on our arms and heads with no fear. It was amazing. No wonder they are highly endangered. I have pics somewhere of this experience.