![]() Despite our good or bad intentions, we are a part of a larger system and affect it in surprising ways we do not intend or yet understand. Two (the Passenger Pigeon and Dodo) are gone the other (the Rock Pigeon) may never be eradicated. Perhaps the critics have forgotten a guy called Charles Darwin, who, despite his social position as a member of the country gentry, was interested enough to attend pigeon shows, buy birds, and bore dinner guests such as Charles Lyell with his obsessive table talk about them.Īlthough you will see that the “superdove”-a term coined by David Quammen-is eminently worth studying, I would propose that there are, or were, three peculiar members of the dove family deserving of that title. That subject is one for agricultural schools. Many people, at least in cities where Rock Pigeons are common, think of them as “flying rats.” When Richard Johnston and Marian Janiga began writing Feral Pigeons, their illuminating and entertaining study of the bird, many academics were horrified-a strong bias still exists against studying domestic or feral animals. So, how do you feel about “street” pigeons? Do you mourn the Dodo? But first I want to test the sophistication of your biophilia. I am willing to mourn that last captive voyager, a miracle of evolution, a postcard for extreme biodiversity, a bird more appreciated now than it ever was in life, except as a meal. This year marks the centenary of the death of the last Passenger Pigeon, the most numerous bird ever known, but one that did not survive the colonization of North America. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |