zoo of normal birds

[jonafly]

Are there places in Europe where it is possible to watch the 'normal' european birds instead of all those exotic ones that crowd the zoo's?
Maybe sanctuaries, themeparks whatever.

[Elizabeth Bigg]

Originally posted by jonafly
Are there places in Europe where it is possible to watch the 'normal' european birds instead of all those exotic ones that crowd the zoo's?
Maybe sanctuaries, themeparks whatever.

I hope not - I hate the thought of birds being kept captive, just for our entertainment.

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Jonafly,

In another sense, yes, of course! - every nature reserve, and every place where they can find food, including your garden and local park. The birds are free to come and go as they please, so they might not want to come too close to you, but they will be there!

Michael

[birdman]

Just to add to what Michael has said, we in Britain have many such reserves, but of course the birds are not captive - simply their prefered location has been managed in such a way to allow sensitive human access.

I don't know how things are elsewhere in Europe...

Maybe erik can give you some Dutch examples?

[Elizabeth Bigg]

Originally posted by birdman
Just to add to what Michael has said, we in Britain have many such reserves, but of course the birds are not captive - simply their prefered location has been managed in such a way to allow sensitive human access.



Birdman - a little while ago I posted a picture taken at Martin Mere of a bird I thought was a Red Crested Pochard, asking for confirmation of this.

Richard said he could see from the photo that the bird had been pinioned, and therefore could not fly. Presumably therefore this bird is captive? It's obviously not as bad as being kept in a cage, which I think is dreadful, but is pinioning wrong if this is causing a bird to be captive?

[birdman]

I agree, about it being captive, Elizabeth. Unforunately, I don't know enough about the whys and wherefores of pinioning to comment on whether it is "right" or "wrong". (In fact, I looked at the photo, and I have no idea how Richard could tell it had been pinioned!)

But you are right, there are a number wildfowl "collections" in this country, which include European species. (You may have seen a thread I started about Slimbridge, where a long debate was had over the validity of wildfowl collections.)

Equally though, there are many more places where this is not the case. I guessed perhaps jonafly was asking the question about "birdparks" with non-exotics... and your response was the same as mine would have been.

But, as Michael pointed out, in this country, we are blessed with an alternative.

[Colin]

I haven't seen the picture of the pochard in question but it is possible to see if there are two sets of primary feathers in a picture even with the wings folded, in which case it is not pinioned.

[Raydes]

Hi all

Sorry to dissapoint many people out here but there are still zoo's who keeps birds as their main attraction!

Walsrode between Hamburg and Hannover Germany is the place where they keep only birds. Very big aviary's with many European birds but also others, this zoo was famous in the past for its Parrots.
Also in Belgium is one place to be mentioned it's Parc Paradisio.
Somewhere in the province Hainaut (Henegouwen)

But despite these said things !!

Just only 10 minutes ago I heard in on the Television that for the first time ever there's a new law in order in Belgium.
That it is completely forbidden to catch birds of whatever species now!! :) :) :) :)

[seb_seb]

I like that rule!!

[jonafly]

I meant things like they have in Andalucia, where ill and damaged birds (and orphans) are treated so they come back on their feet again. Unfortunately this one I was about to visit with a Donana guide but he didn't live up to the promise.
Offcourse I agree that birds shoudn't be kept captive. Also look at my other posting about a firm in Holland that imports birds to sell them, in which I asked if this is legal or not.
The thing is that I thought a sanctuary like that could be a very usefull place for people to get to know birds from closeby, in order to be able to recognise them better in the wild.

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Jonafly,

Yes, those do exist, they are called 'wildlife hospitals' in England, and 'rehab centers' (from 'rehabilitation') in the USA.

I think some do show people round, but it is a difficult thing for them to do - first, a lot of the birds they have are very timid, and to let people get close to see them, may cause them distress. They recover better if they don't have to worry about people looking at them (some places, they even take care that the staff remain invisible to the birds, by feeding them from behind covers, etc). Also, the staff tend to be very busy helping the birds (mostly, they are volunteers), and don't have time to show people round.

They may have occasional open days when there are extra volunteers to show people round. Some also have 'long term resident' birds, e.g. with a wing missing and so impossible to release; these birds may become more accustomed to people and can be shown.

Michael

[Elizabeth Bigg]

Originally posted by Colin
I haven't seen the picture of the pochard in question but it is possible to see if there are two sets of primary feathers in a picture even with the wings folded, in which case it is not pinioned.

Colin - I put it in the ID help forum, but I am planning to put it in the Gallery, and hope to do that fairly soon. Thanks for the comment - I would not recognise a pinioned bird, so I hope you might make a further comment when I have posted it.

[Elizabeth Bigg]

Originally posted by Elizabeth Bigg
Colin - I put it in the ID help forum, but I am planning to put it in the Gallery, and hope to do that fairly soon. Thanks for the comment - I would not recognise a pinioned bird, so I hope you might make a further comment when I have posted it.


Colin - it's in the Gallery now, but I had some problems in posting it - hope you can view it before it moves on.