The past week spun the most heated discussions here on FM, from the legality of birdkeeping in the country, to the creation of a price list for finches on the market.  Let me make a digression by bringing our readers’ attention to something which I believe is a more important topic–changes in the environment and what the effects are to our dear finches.  I’m practically doing a microeconomics here by taking a human situation down to the level of species of birds, but I didn’t want to post something which is totally unrelated to what we are doing here.  Besides, this is probably the most interesting article I did to date.

inconvenient truth poster

 For starters, you can read a short write-up I did on Melissa Etheridge’s “I Need To Wake Up” music video, the soundtrack used for Al Gore’s documentary film “An Inconvenient Truth,” here in the guitartutee.com website.  If you’ve watched the DVD then that’s great because you already know the premise of this article.

Believe it or not, scientists around the world are already studying the effects of global warming on birds. 

  • Roger Segelken of the Cornell Chronicle reports that 5-8 day old bird nestlings tend to die in colder weather and are abandoned by their parents due to lack of food(global warming has also affected the number and concentarion of insects, which birds eat).
  • with climate changes, “natural communities of birds could be torn apart” due to higher/lower temperature and the greater distances that birds have to cross to migrate, according to USGCRP (US Global Change Research Program). 
  • ScienceDaily.com asserts that due to global warming, birds in the wild now tend to lay their eggs a week earlier compared to scientific data a decade ago.  In the next few years, this phenomenon could prove fatal to some bird species because their usual food source (like grass seeds and insects) might not be available when the their eggs hatch and they have nestlings to feed– a difference in time frame.
  • About.com reports that 12 US National Parks are now in the endangered list.  As such endangered species housed by these parks are exposed into even more danger with climate changes than direct human activity like poaching and trophy hunting.

Wild gouldians inhabiting the northern part of Australia can be virtually wiped out with erratic weather changes(not to mention major hurricanes and forest fires, all brought about by global warming.)  Imagine losing these birds in their natural habitat. 

Gouldians with Different Face Colors. Photo copyright Sarah Pryke.

Search “global warming” and ”canary” together in google and you’d see that our dear bird (in reference to the miner’s canary) is being used as a metaphor for the imminent warnings that are happening all around us–like polar bears drowning, or hurricane Katrina, or the melting of the great glaciers.

Gloster Canary Finch

Al Gore’s documentary summons us to reduce our CO2 emissions in order to lessen the onslaught of global warming.  For the average Filipino, this means the following: taking mass transit like the bus or the MRT/LRT to go to work, walking or biking instead of using the car, and using energy efficient appliances like low-wattage bulbs and environment-friendly refrigerators.  This sounds like Elementary Science to the current generation (I’m already a bit old considering we had global warming in High School) but I think most breeders who are a bit older (pardon the language here) are probably not THAT aware of it.  This makes me think how a global phenomenon such as global warming can affect our hobby of keeping birds.

Here’s my to-do list:

  • design an outside aviary which can simulate the wild, thereby eliminating the need for energy to power fluorescent lamps, light bulbs and for some, air-cons.  The aviary must be able to protect the birds from harsh weather though and diseases brought about by wild species.
  • if an outside aviary is impossible, then maybe we can use clock timers for our lights. Not only does this ensure an accurate and controlled lighting for our birds, but also it saves energy and money as well.
  • manually mash eggs in preparing food, and not rely on a blender.  
  • use MRT and LRT when going to Cartimar.  I bet a taxi would be necessary for the way home though with you lugging those enormous cages and those finches around.  
  • put up more articles like this that will emphasize on saving the environment.

These are very small things that can really help alleviate the effects of global warming especially when we do them with consistency and when more breeders are aware of it.  How about you?  What changes or proposals can you make that will integrate our practices of keeping birds with the collective goal of saving the environment?     

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