It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Buzzards that vomit when threatened and leave piles of acidic dropping have invaded a small town and nobody knows why
Alia Shoaib
Roosting black vultures. Getty Images
Residents of Bunn, North Carolina, are puzzled why buzzards have been invading their town.
Dozens of birds have congregated in the town, and attempts to scare them off using cannons and horns have failed.
Buzzards, which are black or turkey vultures, have a bad reputation but are generally harmless to humans.
Buzzards have descended on a town in North Carolina, and attempts to scare them off with loud cannons and fake effigies have failed, reports say.
Over the past year, the birds of prey have converged in Bunn, North Carolina, The News & Observer of Raleigh said.
Local resident Ally Leggett told the paper that at the height of the invasion, she counted 58 buzzards perched around her house.
"This weekend, they were up there swarming," she told the paper, gesturing to the roof. "It makes my dogs insane."
She said the unwelcome visitors would perch on her chimney leaving a trail of destruction due to their habit of pecking at the bricks, pulling them down.
On Wednesday, 28 buzzards sat on a cellular tower along Main Street, and another 21 gatheed at Bunn High School across the street, the paper said.
Bunn residents are puzzled over why the birds' attraction to their town, and have tried to scare them away with various tactics.
In December, the town began firing a propane cannon off the roof of the local high school at regular intervals, day or night, hoping the shotgun-like sound would scare off the birds.
"That worked for a while," police chief Steve Massey told the local newspaper. "It seems they're back."
Massey added that he often goes by the birds to blow his horn at them.
The town also tried hanging "effigies" around the rooftop of the high school to keep the birds away, but the 2-foot tall black birds remained undeterred.
Although called buzzards, the birds are either black or turkey vultures, both of which are protected species. Federal and state law outlaws killing, hurting, or harassing the birds.
The turkey vulture has a five-foot wingspan and the black vultures are six-foot, according to NC Wildlife Resources Commission.
Vultures are often disliked because they feed primarily on carrion, and are often depicted as harbingers of doom and death in popular culture.
The birds' habit of vomiting when threatened adds to the revulsion people feel towards them. Their droppings are acidic and can eat through the paint on a car, according to the News & Record of Greensboro.
Despite their reputation, they are mostly harmless to humans.
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
Vulture invasion besets residents of Florida neighborhood
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Residents of a Florida neighborhood say they are beset by an invasion of turkey vultures that are damaging homes and causing major messes.
Resident Judy Oliveri told WFLA-TV that her neighborhood in the Tampa suburb of Westchase is overrun with the large black birds, and they've been multiplying since they showed up three years ago.
“We could have 20 to 25 vultures on our roofs. They land on our screens, their under-feathers are all over the roof, their droppings are all over the place,” Oliveri said.
Other homeowners say it's possible the vultures were dislocated from their previous habitat by ongoing development in the area.
Residents say the U.S. Department of Agriculture has promised to remove the vultures, but no timetable has been set.
“They are destroying our neighborhood and our property values. I would like them gone,” Oliveri said.
Vultures are state and federally protected as a migratory bird. That means it is illegal to harm or kill them without a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Associated Press
Monday, April 10, 2023
VISITING FROM FLORIDA
Black buzzards are circling New York City in sightings that 'would have been unheard of' 30 years ago, ornithologists say
American Black Vulture, Coragyps atratus, pulling at rubber seal on parked car at Anhinga Trail Florida.
David Tipling/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert Mon, April 10, 2023 Black vultures have been making their way north due to milder weather caused by climate change.
Ornithologists in New York have recorded more than 300 sightings in the last year.
The number "would have been unheard of" 30 years ago, one researcher told the NYT.
Climate change is behind the unusual appearance of hulking, bald-headed black vultures across parts of New York City, ornithologists say.
The vultures, which usually make their habitat in the southern states and across Mexico and other portions of Latin America, are now being seen regularly as far north as Manhattan.
The birds are changing their migratory patterns, being driven north by dwindling habitat space and milder winter weather, The New York Times reported.
Just 30 years ago, spotting groups — or committees — of black vultures so far north "would have been unheard of," Andrew Farnsworth, a researcher at Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology, told The New York Times. Yet, over the last year, the Cornell-backed public science project eBird has documented more than 300 sightings in the city.
Farnsworth told Insider the sightings are significant because, as the species expands its habitat in the region, the vulture's presence can impact relationships with other scavengers and omnivorous crows, as well as white tailed deer and other mammals that the birds eat, which as a result could impact how food chains in the region function or how diseases like West Nile Virus spread.
While the environmental impact of the vulture appearances remains unclear and will for some time, Farnsworth told Insider, it is likely to have impacts on other species, and those impacts can reveal information about the relationships between animals, changing climate, and epidemiology.
"All I do know is these huge creatures that have a wingspan of about five feet have invaded Staten Island," Deena Tomasulo, a resident of the Midland Beach neighborhood, told NBC News New York in August. "They perch on the roofs and stare at the animals — the feral cats, raccoons, and opossums. I have never witnessed an attack yet, thank God ... I just don't want any of the feral cats to get harmed, people have little small dogs. And if you put the dog in your yard, these birds will swoop in and attack."
Often regarded as an omen of death and renewal, the frightening-looking birds appear more intimidating than they are dangerous.
"They're not geared to killing, like a hawk or an owl would be, where they grasp and kill. They will come down and just eat mostly roadkill," said Don Riepe, with the Jamaica Bay American Littoral Society, a wildlife refuge, told CBS News. Representatives for the Littoral Society did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
The new presence of the large birds may spell longer-term consequences for the ecosystem, The New York Times reported. Should the vultures disrupt the food chain or displace other birds by moving into the region, the impacts can ripple beyond just the sightings — potentially endangering entire species of insects and other animals by wiping out their food supply.
"All of our societies depend on these natural systems of insects, birds, plants in multiple ecosystems across the earth," Tod Winston, a researcher with the New York City Audubon Society told The New York Times, adding that environmental changes that impact birds should be a warning to us all, saying "people are in trouble," too.
The New York City Audubon Society did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Friday, November 26, 2021
Vying with vultures: Widespread poverty has some Hondurans living off rubbish Marlon Escoto has spent 45 years picking through rubbish at a municipal dump in Honduras to try to find things to sell and earn a living
(AFP/Luis ACOSTA)More Moises AVILA Fri, November 26, 2021,
Marlon Escoto has been rummaging through rubbish since he was 14, trying to chase off vultures while picking out pieces of plastic and fragments of metal to sell.
Ravaged by drug trafficking, violent gangs, corruption, political instability and hurricanes, Honduras sees more than half its 10 million people -- 59 percent -- scraping by in poverty.
"I look after my children from here... from the rubbish," Escoto, 59, told AFP as he stood in a sprawling dump on a hill overlooking the capital city Tegucigalpa.
He will not be leaving it anytime soon.
Escoto's wife is in hospital and he needs to pay for her treatment. But he says his earnings from scavenging barely put food on the table.
On this particular day Escoto is one of perhaps 100 people picking through the mountains of garbage at the municipal dump.
Honduras will hold presidential elections on Sunday, and Escoto does not know who to vote for.
Left-wing candidate Xiomara Castro, a former first lady who leads in several opinion polls, will be trying to break the decades-long, alternating grip on power of the ruling National Party and the Liberal Party.
"Everyone has the right to vote because we're citizens," Escoto said. "But none of the parties have helped me. I paid for everything in my house."
Handouts, though, are common in Honduras, and they seem to spike as elections near.
A month ago, the government started distributing vouchers worth 7,000 lempiras -- about $290 -- per family to alleviate poverty. The minimum wage is around $400 a month, although most people work in the underground, off the books economy.
Queues of people formed to receive their vouchers as the opposition accused the government of buying votes.
"We have to see what the effects of the money dance will be," said Eugenio Sosa, an analyst and professor at the National University.
Liberal Party candidate Yani Rosenthal has also promised vouchers -- worth $60 a month to each adult -- if elected, without saying how he would fund it.
"Here we collect plastic bottles, cardboard, glass bottles, paper," said Marco Antonio Cruz, 69, another recycler working at the dump. "They haven't given us much, just enough for a plate of food."
Magdalena Cerritos, 72, and her four children all work at the municipal dump close to Honduras's capital, but she holds no grudges against the governing party (AFP/Luis ACOSTA)
- 'Vultures circle above' -
As soon as the sun rises, trucks turn up at the dump -- known locally as the "crematorium" -- to unload more mountains of rubbish.
Vultures circle above before swooping down to compete with humans for scraps of food.
The recyclers have municipal permits to scavenge. Some even consider their permit a gift from the mayor, Nasry Asfura, the presidential candidate for the ruling National Party.
Many work alone, others as part of a cooperative.
The stench stings nostrils and seeps into clothing.
An aerial shot of people looking through rubbish for pieces of plastic or metal to sell at a municipal dump on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa (AFP/Luis ACOSTA)
Recyclers pick animal entrails off plastic bottles with no sign of disgust. They joke that even Covid-19 would not enter the dump.
The pandemic was largely responsible for pushing unemployment here from 5.7 percent in 2019 to 10.9 percent in 2020, according to a study by the Autonomous University.
"I brought up my children here," said Magdalena Cerritos, 72. "I have four children that work here," since there is "no work" elsewhere.
Even after 40 years picking through rubbish at the "crematorium," Cerritos, ever hopeful, plans to stick with National Party candidate Asfura, whose nickname is Papi a la Orden (Papi at your service).
"I'm a Nationalist, and I'll go for Papi," she said. "I think Papi could do well."
mav/bc/bbk/dw
Hondurans weary of corruption look for change in election
Free Party presidential candidate Xiomara Castro acknowledges supporters accompanied by her running mate Salvador Nasralla, right, during a closing campaign rally, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021. Honduras will hold presidential election on Nov. 28. (AP Photo/Delmer Martinez)
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — For many Hondurans, Sunday’s election will be about stripping power from a party whose successive administrations are widely seen as having deepened corruption and driven tens of thousands to flee the country, many toward the United States.
Expelling President Juan Orlando Hernández’s National Party after 12 years is more important to them than who takes power when it’s gone. The animosity toward Hernández is such that for several years, migrants walking out of Honduras have chanted “Get out J.O.H.!” referring to his initials.
Complaints against Hernández and his party are multiple. An already difficult life has gotten even harder for many. Honduras was hit by two devastating hurricanes in 2020. The pandemic raised unemployment to 10.9% last year, according to the National Statistics Institute. The economy shrank by 9%, according to the World Bank. And street gangs rule swaths of territory through terror.
Hernández has also become a national embarrassment. U.S. federal prosecutors in New York have accused him of running a narco state and fueling his own political rise with drug money. Hernández has denied it all and has not been formally charged, but that could change once he leaves office.
And many believe Hernández isn’t legitimately their president. A friendly court sidestepped the constitutional ban on reelection and Hernández won a 2017 contest filled with irregularities that nonetheless was quickly recognized by the Trump administration.
So the National Party’s candidate in Sunday’s election, Tegucigalpa Mayor Nasry Asfura, has faced significant headwinds as Hernández’s chosen successor.
Honduran prosecutors also accuse him of diverting more than $1 million in public funds to personal use, but the Supreme Court has put the case on hold until a sort comptroller court investigates.
Try as he might, Asfura hasn’t been able to shake Hernández’s stigma. At a recent rally in Tegucigalpa, Asfura pleaded, “I am different.”
The National Party’s strength is its ability to distribute benefits and mobilize voters, including some 200,000 government employees, and Asfura is still in the race. Whichever of the 14 candidates gets the most votes Sunday wins; there is no runoff.
Polls give Xiomara Castro the best chance of beating Asfura. This is Castro’s third try. She lost to Hernández in his first run and then dropped out in 2017 when she joined the coalition backing television personality Salvador Nasralla, who this year dropped out to back her.
The 62-year-old candidate of the leftist Liberty and Refoundation party is the wife of former President Jose Manuel Zelaya, who had aggravated both the U.S. and Honduran establishments by building close ties with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. He was ousted by the military in a coup in 2009. Officials justified his ouster by alleging he planned to violate the same constitutional ban on reelection that Hernández later ignored.
He too has faced corruption allegations. When a Honduran drug trafficker was sentenced to life in prison in the United States in 2019, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said he had paid millions in bribes to government officials, including $2 million to Zelaya, an accusation Zelaya denied. Castro’s campaign has focused on the need to remove the existing power structure, and tying Asfura to Hernández at every opportunity.
“They call Honduras a narco state because of this mafia that governs us and because of which they also say we’re the most corrupt country in Latin America,” Castro said at a recent campaign event. “This is the moment to say enough of the misery, the poverty and the exclusion that our country experiences now.”
For years, the U.S. relationship with Honduras has been governed by Honduras’ willingness to cooperate in the war on drugs as a key transshipment point for cocaine headed north and in helping to stem migration?. But U.S. prosecutors have shown that while the government was assisting in interdiction, its politicians were benefitting from drug proceeds and helping protect other shipments, most notably in the case of former lawmaker Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández, the president’s brother, who was sentenced to life in prison in the United States.
The Biden administration has continued to struggle with Central American migrants arriving at the Southwest border, many of them from Honduras. Vice President Kamala Harris has said corruption in the region as one of the key problems driving that movement.
According to the Vanderbilt University’s Americas’ Barometer Pulse of Democracy 2021 report released this month, more than half of the those polled in the nation of 9.3 million expressed a desire to live or work abroad — 30 percentage points higher than in 2004.
In addition to president, Hondurans will elect a new congress and their representatives for the Central American Parliament.
Luis Vásquez, a 43-year-old systems technician in Tegucigalpa, said he was underwhelmed by all of the candidates.
“There isn’t an option of proposals that we can trust; it’s just more of the same,” he said. But he was sure his vote would not go to the National Party, “because of the high level of corruption it has shown.”
An international team of researchers has found that Africa’s birds of prey are facing an extinction crisis.
The report, co-led by researchers from the School of Biology at the University of St Andrews and The Peregrine Fund, and published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution (4 January 2024), warns of declines among nearly 90% of 42 species examined, and suggests that more than two-thirds may qualify as globally threatened.
Led by Dr Phil Shaw from St Andrews and Dr Darcy Ogada of The Peregrine Fund, the study combines counts from road surveys conducted within four African regions at intervals of c. 20–40 years and yields unprecedented insights into patterns of change in the abundance of savanna raptor species.
It shows that large raptor species had experienced significantly steeper declines than smaller species, particularly on unprotected land, where they are more vulnerable to persecution and other human pressures. Overall, raptors had declined more than twice as rapidly outside of National Parks, Reserves and other protected areas than they had within. Worryingly, many species experiencing the steepest declines had suffered a double jeopardy, having also become much more dependent on protected areas over the course of the study.
The study’s authors conclude that unless many of the threats currently facing African raptors are addressed effectively, large, charismatic eagle and vulture species are unlikely to persist over much of the continent’s unprotected land by the latter half of this century.
The study also highlights steep declines among raptors that are currently classified as being of ‘least concern’ in the global Red List of threatened species. They include African endemics such as Wahlberg's Eagle, African Hawk-eagle, Long-crested Eagle, African Harrier-hawk and Brown Snake-eagle, as well as Dark Chanting-goshawk. All of these species have declined at rates suggesting that they may now be globally threatened.
Several other familiar, widespread raptor species are now scarce or absent from unprotected land. They include one of Africa’s most powerful raptors - the Martial Eagle - as well as the highly distinctive Bateleur.
Dr Phil Shaw commented: “Since the 1970s, extensive areas of forest and savanna have been converted into farmland, while other pressures affecting African raptors have likewise intensified. With the human population projected to double in the next 35 years, the need to extend Africa’s protected area network – and mitigate pressures in unprotected areas – is now greater than ever”.
Dr Darcy Ogada added: “Africa is at a crossroads in terms of saving its magnificent birds of prey. In many areas we have watched these species nearly disappear. One of Africa’s most iconic raptors, the Secretarybird, is on the brink of extinction. There’s no single threat imperiling these birds, it’s a combination of many human-caused ones, in other words we are seeing deaths from a thousand cuts”.
Professor Ian Newton OBE FRS, FRSE, a world-leading ornithologist who was not involved in the study, commented: “This is an important paper which draws attention to the massive declines in predatory birds which have occurred across much of Africa during recent decades. This was the continent over which, only 50 years ago, pristine populations of spectacular raptors were evident almost everywhere, bringing excitement and wonder to visitors from many parts of the world. The causes of the declines are many – from rampant habitat destruction to growing use of poisons by farmers and poachers and expanding powerline networks – all ultimately due to expansions in human numbers, livestock grazing and other activities. Let us hope that more research can be done and, more importantly, that these birds can be protected over ever more areas, measures largely dependent on the education and goodwill of local people.”
Raptors of all sizes lead an increasingly perilous existence on Africa’s unprotected land, where suitable habitat, food supplies and breeding sites have been drastically reduced, and persecution from pastoralists, ivory poachers and farmers is now widespread. Other significant threats include unintentional poisoning, electrocution on power poles and collision with powerlines and wind turbines, as well as killing for food and belief-based uses.
The late Dr Jean Marc Thiollay laid the foundation for this study in the 1970s, by initiating a remarkable long-term monitoring effort in West Africa, where the average decline rate was more than twice that of other regions. The Peregrine Fund’s Dr Ralph Buij, who has re-surveyed some of the original areas, noted that: “the human footprint is particularly high throughout West Africa’s savannas, and the near complete disappearance of many raptors outside that region’s relatively small and fragmented protected area network reflects an ecological collapse that is increasingly affecting other parts of the continent. Some raptors that occur mostly in West Africa, such as the little-known Beaudouin’s Snake-eagle, are vanishing into oblivion.”
The study’s findings highlight the importance of strengthening the protection of Africa’s natural habitats and aligns with the Convention on Biological Diversity’s COP15 goal of expanding conservation areas to cover 30% of land by 2030. They also demonstrate the need to restore natural habitats within unprotected areas, reduce the impact of energy infrastructure, improve legislation for species protection, and establish long-term monitoring and evaluation of the conservation status of African raptors. Crucially, there is a pressing need to try to increase public involvement in raptor conservation efforts.
To this end, the study’s authors have developed the African Raptor Leadership Grant to address the immediate need for more research and conservation programs. It supports educational and mentoring opportunities for emerging African scientists, boosting local conservation initiatives and knowledge of raptors across the continent. This initiative, which was launched in 2023, awarded its first grant to Joan Banda, a raptor research student at AP Leventis Ornithological Research Institute in Nigeria, who will be studying threats to African owls.
SDE BOKER, Israel, January 8, 2024 – Two types of experiences affect the behavioral skills of animals: the animal's environment during its early development and acquired experience. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev's researchers followed Egyptian vultures during migration, a critical and challenging period for them, and investigated how their flying skills developed by examining their performance using high resolution tracking.
Their findings were published in the journal Current Biology last month.
The flight skills of two groups of birds of the species Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), a long-distance soaring raptor, were assessed using GPS transmitters for 127 autumn migrations of 65 individuals. The two groups were quite different in terms of their early life experiences: one group was raised in captivity and the other in the wild. The birds in both groups improved their flight and migration performance as they gained experience. However, the improvements observed were most evident for vultures raised in captivity.
During their first migration, the captive-bred birds were less efficient but were able to catch up with the migration performance of those raised in the wild as early as the second migration. Thus, the experience gained helped offset the shortcomings of their early life experience at an early stage. Just as it is harder for humans to learn a language in old age, the vultures that hatched in captivity and were set free at a later age found it difficult to learn the necessary flying and roaming skills, but eventually caught up with those that learned earlier.
"We were able to generate data on the vultures' migration and flying skills. The data made it possible to learn about the value of early experience and acquired experience and their impact on the ability of birds to cope with challenging periods such as migration," explained Dr. Ron Efrat, one of the lead investigators, who recently completed his doctoral studies in the laboratoryof Prof. Oded Berger-Tal of theJacob Blaustein Institutes forDesert Research at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. "It seems that birds, like humans, are also affected by their life experience," he concluded.
The research group included: Prof. Nir Sapir from the University of Haifa, Prof. Thomas Mueller from Frankfurt University, and the Senckenberg Research Center in Germany, and Ohad Hatzofe, Bird Ecologist of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.
This study was supported by the German Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF), grant number I-1465-413.13.2018. In addition, Ron Efrat was supported by the Adams Fellowship of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
Early and accumulated experience shape migration and flight in Egyptian vultures
Sunday, May 19, 2024
Why the bad rep? A spunky group of raptors deserves a public relations makeover
RAPTOR RESEARCH FOUNDATION
IMAGE:
AN ADULT RED-THROATED CARACARA (IBYCTER AMERICANUS) VOCALIZING AND PERCHING ON A BRANCH OF A TREE IN THE UPALA'S (ALAJUELA PROVINCE) RAIN FOREST OF COSTA RICA.
Caracaras are an inquisitive, gregarious, highly intelligent group of predatory birds in the falcon family, whose quirks go largely unnoticed by the public. Caracara researchers, however, say it’s time for that to change. In a caracara-focused issue of the Journal of Raptor Research, long-time caracara researcher Joan Morrison and co-author Miguel D. Saggese, from Western University of Health Sciences, present salient reasons for expanding research efforts on the nine species of living caracaras. In their paper “Assessing Knowledge of the Caracaras: Compiling Information, Identifying Knowledge Gaps, and Recommendations for Future Research,” they present findings from a literature review that revealed alarmingly large knowledge gaps in the field of caracara research. Several species have hardly been studied at all. While caracaras are generally listed as species of Least Concern, this may be inaccurate given the lack of completed research on their population trends and basic life histories. Caracara researchers are calling all colleagues to rectify these gaps at a time when new technology is increasing research possibilities, and several caracara species are expanding their ranges into more urban centers.
Caracaras live exclusively in the Americas. Of the nine living species, only the Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus) reaches the United States. The rest range throughout parts of Central and South America, where they fill the niche usually held by crows and ravens in North America. Caracaras are scrappy, plotting, and adaptable. They are scavengers, and therefore suffer from an arguably undeserved negative reputation, which results in human persecution and likely limits them from appearing in conservation discourse.
To establish an understanding of caracara research to date, Morrison and Saggese conducted a thorough literature review on all the research published on caracaras between 1900 and 2022. They categorized their findings by research topic and species, offering a revised picture of what we know (and don’t know), about these birds. The species most studied were those with broad ranges and significant overlap with humans, such as the Crested and Chimango (Milvago chimango) Caracaras. In fact, 82% of the sources identified focused on the Crested Caracara. The least studied species were the forest-dwelling Black Caracara (Daptrius ater) and Red-throated Caracara (Ibycter americanus). Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and the U.S. have conducted most of the studies on caracaras thus far. Overall, foundational gaps still exist on basic life history information for many species, even though the tools exist to conduct such projects. It is the interest and funding that are lacking.
These findings are important because caracaras face a disproportionately high number of threats compared with other birds due to their life history, ecology, and reputation. Dangers include entanglement, poisoning, leg-hold traps, and unfortunately, direct human persecution. As top predators and scavengers, caracaras are agents of prey regulation and biomass removal, which are important ecosystem services. Recent population crashes of Old World vultures made it undeniably clear that without vultures, rotting flesh and disease remain on the landscape for longer periods of time, which impacts both human and ecosystem health. Little was known about vultures at the time of these crashes. Few were interested in them. Sound familiar?
The Old World vulture crashes demonstrate the importance of scavengers, and the unpredictable danger of knowledge gaps. Morrison and Saggese encourage collaboration between vulture and caracara biologists to bolster collective knowledge and prevent similar consequences from occurring in the Americas. Morrison says, “if we have a similar message, that these birds are interesting, we can work towards eliminating the persecution and negative reputation,” and she says now is the time for increased research efforts. “There are new advances in technology making research on rare and remote species more possible. There has simply not been enough attention given to this group and we argue there should be.”
Saggese points out that ignorance has already led to the disappearance of one caracara species, and as such, “we need to start looking at them as a group.” The Guadalupe Caracara (Caracara lutosa), endemic to Guadalupe Island, was intentionally eradicated by goat herders in the 1890s. Limited understanding and misperceptions often result in such undeserved hostility towards scavengers, something that more research can help prevent. Human-caracara conflicts (both real and perceived) are likely to increase given their expansion into areas inhabited by humans, so understanding the causal effects of these interactions is a timely priority.
Moving forward, Morrison and Saggese recommend additional research on basic natural history, foraging ecology, and evolutionary biology — specifically on the evolution of cognition in caracaras given their puzzle-solving abilities and use of play to investigate novel objects. Caracaras are ideal research subjects: brazen, social, easily intrigued, and big enough to fit with GPS transmitters. For up-and-coming conservation biologists, caracaras offer an untapped realm of research innovation, and an opportunity to aid in conserving a fascinating group of birds. As Saggese reminds us, “we cannot conserve what we don’t know.”
For more information on how to get involved with the Caracara Working Group, contact either author.
A juvenile Chimango Caracara (Milvago chimango) perching on a roof top in Mar del Plata city, Buenos Aires province, Argentina.
CREDIT
Franco Bogel
An adult Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus) eating road kill (A European Hare hit by a car) along a highway near Calafate, Santa Cruz province, Argentina.
Nestling Crested Caracaras (Caracara plancus) in southern Patagonia, Santa Cruz province, Argentina. There this species nest in native shrubs, exotic trees and human-made structures.
CREDIT
Miguel D. Saggese
Paper
Joan L. Morrison and Miguel D. Saggese "Assessing Knowledge of the Caracaras: Compiling Information, Identifying Knowledge Gaps, and Recommendations for Future Research," Journal of Raptor Research 58(2), 141-152, (6 May 2024). https://doi.org/10.3356/JRR-23-39
Notes to Editor:
1. The Journal of Raptor Research (JRR) is an international scientific journal dedicated entirely
to the dissemination of information about birds of prey. Established in 1967, JRR has
published peer-reviewed research on raptor ecology, behavior, life history, conservation,
and techniques. JRR is available quarterly to members in electronic and paper format.
2. The Raptor Research Foundation (RRF) is the world’s largest professional society for raptor
researchers and conservationists. Founded in 1966 as a non-profit organization, our primary
goal is the accumulation and dissemination of scientific information about raptors. The
Foundation organizes annual scientific conferences and provides competitive grants & awards
for student researchers & conservationists. The Foundation also provides support &
networking opportunities for students & early career raptor researchers.
Van co-mayor Zeydan: No one will even think of usurping your will anymore
Speaking in Van on Wednesday night, co-mayor Abdullah Zeydan said: "No one will even think of usurping your will anymore."
ANF VAN Thursday, 4 April 2024, 08:33
After the decision of the Supreme Electoral Board (YSK) to reinstate the Metropolitan Municipality co-mayor of the People's Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), Abdullah Zeydan, some one hundred thousand people flocked to Musa Anter Park to celebrate Van's victory.
They will never find the courage to usurp the people’s will again
Van Metropolitan Municipality co-mayor Neslihan Şedal said: “This victory, this resistance is yours, congratulations. After this resistance, who would dare to usurp our will, who would dare to usurp our institutions? You have been displaying great resistance for two days. The winners of this resistance were women and young people. Never again will anyone find the courage to usurp this will. This resistance was not just about winning the municipality. This resistance is a great gift to our friends in prison. This success is also their success. The winner was the spirit of the youth, the winner was the spirit of 'jin, jiyan, azadi'. "We resisted very hard and tomorrow we will clean our streets from the trustee's garbage."
Zeydan: you showed how the Kurdish people have honor
Van Metropolitan Municipality co-mayor Abdullah Zeydan said: “Van is a place of honour and dignity. How happy we are that we are the children of honorable people like you. We said something to the vultures who wanted to collapse against the will of the people in this square. Our people protected their honor and will against all attacks. We said that we would not sacrifice your honor to these vultures. You showed how honorable the Kurdish people are, despite all the pressure, despite all the dirty relationships, despite the promises of money. You gave your message to the whole world by winning 14 out of 14 municipalities. Despite the vultures, you revived the hopes of freedom between those four walls of our comrades, Demirtaş, Kışanak, Yüksekdağlar, Bekir Kayalar, Nazmi Gür, who have been on hunger strike for 125 days in the prisoons today. From now on, no one will even think of usurping your will. We salute and thank you for your honorable resistance. Now is the time to serve."
Abdullah Zeydan of DEM Party reinstated as mayor of Van
The resistance from all over Turkey, especially in Kurdistan, yielded results. The Supreme Electoral Board (YSK) gave the certificate of election to the elected DEM Party Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor Abdullah Zeydan.
ANF VAN Wednesday, 3 April 2024
As a result of the resistance of the Kurdish people, their friends and democratic public opinion, the Supreme Electoral Board (YSK) was forced to return the certificate of election unlawfully granted to the AKP candidate to the democratically elected Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor Abdullah Zeydan of the DEM Party.
The DEM Party filed an objection to the YSK against the Provincial Election Board's decision to give the certificate of election to the AKP candidate. The YSK, which took the objection on its agenda today, decided to return the certificate of election to Zeydan.
Abdullah Zeydan commented on the YSK decision, saying, "We have been given back the certificate of election that we are entitled to. We salute the support and will of our people. We bow with respect in front of this upright stance and struggle of our people."
Background
The Peoples’ Democracy and Equality Party (DEM Party) achieved a historic victory in the local elections held on March 31, 2024, in Van. The people of Van province entrusted all fourteen municipalities, including the Metropolitan Municipality, to the DEM Party, establishing it as the leading party in the Provincial General Assembly by a significant margin. In the Metropolitan Municipality, where the DEM Party received 55% of the vote and the AKP just 27%, elected DEM Party Co-Mayor of Van Metropolitan Municipality, Abdullah Zeydan, has been denied office and replaced by the AKP candidate.
The illegal action against Zeydan was taken despite the fact that he completed all requisite legal procedures and successfully secured candidacy approval from the Supreme Election Board (YSK) after rigorous scrutiny. He garnered substantial support from the people of Van and was duly elected together with Neslihan Şedal.
However, merely five minutes before the close of business on Friday, March 29, 2024, and a mere two days before the election, the Ministry of Justice, via an administrative decision and correspondence, contested the legal credentials of Zeydan, who had been restored his full civil rights by a court decision when released from prison in 2022. Following Friday’s administrative decision and objection letter, which was essentially a directive, the authorized prosecutor's office resubmitted the matter to the court that had issued the decision to restore his civil rights two years ago. That same day, the court revoked their own previous decision and dismissed Zeydan’s civil rights application; and they pre-emptively informed the YSK prior to the formalisation of their new reversed decision, thus curtailing the right to object and appeal.
The very court that had initially ruled in favor of restoring the civil rights of Abdullah Zeydan reversed its decision.
The unlawful action against Zeydan was met with protests, starting from Van and spreading to the entire Kurdish region. People have been taking to the streets for two days in protest at the usurpation of the will of the people of Van. In addition to the Kurdish politics and population, democratic circles from Turkey and abroad also expressed their support for Zeydan against attempts to deny the will of the Kurdish voter
Resistance in Van: We will continue our struggle until we get results
Speaking in Van, Tuncer Bakırhan appealed to the government, saying, “As long as you usurp the will of this people, you are doomed to lose,” Tülay Hatimoğulları said that they would continue their struggle until the return of their mandate.
ANF VAN Wednesday, 3 April 2024 Protests continue in the Kurdish province of Van where the democratically elected co-mayor of the DEM Party was stripped of his civil rights by order of the Turkish government and unlawfully replaced by the AKP candidate.
The Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) held its Central Executive Committee (MYK) meeting at the Confederation of Public Employees' Trade Unions (KESK) building in Van. After the meeting, a march started in in the city centre. Tens of thousands of people participated in the march and frequently chanted slogans such as "Abdullah Zeydan is our honour", "We will win by resisting" and "Rights, law, justice". After the march, a statement was made at Feqiyê Teyran Park.
Addressing the people here, DEM Party Co-Chair Tuncer Bakırhan said, "As I said before, Van is the heart of the Kurds and Kurdistan. Van, with its honourable stance, has given the answer that the Kurdish demands for freedom and democracy cannot be eliminated by oppression, persecution and trustee system, on Newroz Day, in the elections and today in this field. We feel honoured whenever and wherever we hear Van's name. Those who appointed trustees to our will for two terms are now trying to usurp the will of the people of Van again with a conspiracy, political and judicial coup. We will not allow this. Neither their political coups nor their judicial coups will succeed as long as you stand together here with honour despite all the pressure, batons, guns and pepper gas. We promise you that we will protect all the 14 municipalities we have won here."
Bakırhan emphasised that no one can usurp the will of the people of Van and continued his speech as follows: "The calculations made in Ankara, in those dark depths, are doomed to be shattered by hitting the Newroz field and the Castle in Van. They think that we will swallow this injustice. We call on them to deliver the mandate to the people of Van. I would like to appeal to the YSK (Supreme Election Board); do not be an instrument to this political coup. You authorised Abdullah Zeydan with your own hand and approved his candidacy. Now stand by your decision. Please do not remain under the pressure of the government, which has received the necessary response from the people of Turkey in this election. I hope and wish that you will not ignore the will of this people.”
Bakırhan further stated the following: “Another call is for the AKP candidate. If you are Kurdish, if you are a human being, if you are a believer, if you are a person of this land, do not let yourself be deceived. Do not accept the mandate. Tomorrow you will have to lower your head when you walk among the people of Van, on the streets of Van. Do not stand by the AKP-MHP government that will usurp the will of this people. Kurdish people are honourable. They do not forget those who do good, those who do right and those who are not a tool of conspiracy games. If you want to live with your people in your own region with a conscience, honourably and with your head held high, do not lay hands on to the mayor’s office, which is the right of Abdullah Zeydan and Neslihan Şedal.
The election in Van is being discussed all over Turkey. For the first time, Turkey has formed a great alliance against this unjust and unlawful decision against Van. We convey our thanks to the political parties, leaders, democratic mass organisations, labour and professional organisations who embrace Van and stand behind the will of the people of Van. Be sure that for the first time, the labourers and oppressed people of Turkey are in solidarity with the people of Van in a strong way. Do not worry, you are not alone. The labourers and the poor all over Turkey are with you. Once again, I call out to the AKP government; as long as you usurp the will of this people, you are doomed to lose. On 31 March, you lost. Turn from this wrong path, this is not a right path. It will lead nowhere. Your miscalculations have disappeared here today as they did yesterday."
Speaking after, DEM Party Co-Chair Tülay Hatimoğulları stated the following "While we are speaking here, we are addressing not only you but also 85 million people living in Turkey. The YSK, which approved the candidacy of Abdullah Zeydan, reported a problem with his candidacy 48 hours before the elections, 5 hours before 17.00 on Friday, and this problem is communicated to the AKP and AKP's candidate before it is communicated to the DEM Party. They plotted against us while the elections were still taking place. However, you will foil their conspiracy. We appeal to the YSK; the Provincial Electoral Board has taken this decision with a 2 to 1 vote, that is, with an annotation. This morning, our esteemed lawyers and party officials conducted a study and submitted a very broad objection to the YSK. Until this objection is officially finalised, until our objection is accepted, the DEM Party will continue to put forward a democratic struggle in the strongest way together with our people and continue this struggle until Abdullah mayor is given his mandate. We held our MYK meeting here in Van today. All of our MYK group, our Party Assembly, and a significant majority of our MPs will remain in Van until this decision is approved positively. We will carry out this struggle together with the people of Van."
After the statement, thousands of people marched towards Van Courthouse where the Provincial Election Board is located.
The police once again attacked the people as they marched along the Maraş Street in the city centre shouting slogans.
Anti-riot vehicles, gas bombs and rubber bullets were used in the attack and MPs were also targeted. While the public was seriously affected by the intensive use of gas, many protesters were subjected to police violence. Clashes spread to all side streets.
KNK: Stop Erdogan’s coup in Van and stand up for democracy Today is the day of solidarity, said the KNK, calling on members of national parliaments, governments, trade unions, civil society organizations, bar associations and political parties to take a stand against flagrant lawlessness. ANF NEWS DESK Wednesday, 3 April 2024
Kurdish politician Abdullah Zeydan, who ran as co-mayor with Neslihan Şedal for the DEM party and won the election with a large majority, was stripped of his civil rights by order of the Turkish government and replaced by the AKP candidate who was given the certificate of appointment as mayor. The protests in Van and many other cities against the appointment of AKP candidate Abdulahat Arvas as mayor continue.
The Executive Council of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) released a statement calling for solidarity against the Erdoğan regime’s flagrant lawlessness that ignores the will of the people.
Noting that the Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party achieved a significant victory in the local elections held in Turkey on March 31, 2024, KNK said that the DEM Party’s electoral strategy, in which its voters supported opposition CHP candidates, prevented Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling AKP-MHP alliance from winning the municipalities of major cities like Istanbul and Ankara. The DEM Party itself won 81 municipalities in Kurdistan.
The result in Van province stood out. DEM Party candidates won the Van Metropolitan Municipality and all fourteen district municipalities. The DEM candidate for Van Metropolitan Municipality, Mr Abdullah Zeydan, won 55.5% of the vote. The AKP candidate came in a distant second with just 27.2% of the vote. However, per the Justice Ministry’s order, the Van Provincial Election Board ruled on April 2 to hand the “certificate of election,” a document that signifies the elected candidate’s right to govern, to the second-place AKP candidate.
“The legal reasoning behind this move was extremely faulty. Mr. Zeydan applied on time, received his appeal documents, finalized the restitution of his divested rights, and campaigned for months. It is obvious that this is a political attack on the right of voters in Van to choose their representatives and has nothing to do with the law,” said the KNK statement, which further included the following:
“The Erdoğan regime has now trampled on the will of the Kurdish people and the voters of Van for the third time in the past 10 years. It is well past time for the dictatorial practices of the fascist AKP-MHP regime to come to an end.
The Kurdish people and their allies are on the front lines of the global fight for democracy today. The international community must not let them do so alone. Standing together with the DEM Party against this coup can help move Turkey towards democracy and will signal to autocrats everywhere that stealing elections has consequences.
The UN, the Council of Europe and the EU, of which Turkey wants to become a member, must support the Kurdish people and the principles of democracy in Turkey against Erdoğan’s authoritarianism. They must not waste time in taking action. There have been frightening signs since yesterday that special paramilitary units are being deployed in Kurdistan to prevent the Kurds from standing up for their democracy and their fundamental civil rights. These units were responsible for thousands of assassinations and disappearances of Kurdish politicians, activists, and civil society leaders in Kurdistan in the 1980s and 1990s. Curfews and travel bans are being imposed to prevent information from coming out of the region. We fear that they may return to such tactics again.”
The statement concluded: “We call on members of national parliaments, governments, trade unions, civil society organizations, bar associations and political parties: Today is the day of solidarity. Please take a stand against the Erdogan regime’s flagrant lawlessness that ignores the will of the people. Democratic societies must stand together with the DEM Party, Kurdish voters, and all defenders of democracy in Turkey and Kurdistan.”
