Feral Pigeons Amber and Ambros

Introducing Corvid Isle Sanctuary Residents

At our Corvid Isle Sanctuary, we do also care for other bird species such as feral pigeons. We also provide a safe forever home for ex-racing pigeons, which have been neglected and abandoned by so called pigeon fanciers. Feral pigeons Amber and Ambros came to us in 2017 and 2015 respectively.

Feral Pigeon Ambros

Ambros arrived at the sanctuary in December 2015 as an orphaned fledgling. We raised him until he was fully independent and attempted to release him back into his flock. This did not work out as expected, as Ambros strictly refused to leave. We eventually accepted his decision and took him back home, where he joined our own small free flying mixed feral and ex-racing pigeon flock.

Feral pigeon Ambros
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Management of Interspecies Interactions in Captivity

Introduction

This blog post is aimed to provide some useful information regarding the potential need for the management of interspecies interactions between different corvid species in captivity. We are frequently being asked, mostly by rehabbers and rescue centres, if and how certain corvid species can be kept together in an aviary environment. This question often becomes of interest due to a reoccurring problem in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation – the lack of available aviary space.

To shed some light onto this topic, one has to consider two different main scenarios. If and how different corvid species can and should be kept together depends on the set goal to be achieved, as there are different considerations to be made. The two main scenarios are rescue, rehabilitation and release opposed to long-term care in a sanctuary like environment. We will discuss and examen both scenarios in this blogpost.

Magpie Luca
Magpie Luca
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Large-billed Crow Project in South Korea

Large-billed crow

We would like to support Joey Rositano’s ‘Large-billed Crow Project’ in South Korea by sharing the link to the Kickstarter he is currently running for the digital version of his book ‘Scattering’.

‘Scattering’ is a limited edition photography book about crow feeding rituals on Jeju Island in South Korea. As part of their shamanic faith residents of Jeju Island leave portions of food for scavenging animals, especially crows. Over five years Joey Rositano documented the special relationship between people and large-billed crows in the village of Darakut in South Korea.

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Cats, Cars And Wildlife (Republished)

Editor’s note: This post has originally been posted on 29th May 2018, and has now been updated and republished.

What have cats, cars and wildlife in common? Cats are domesticated companion animals, cars are machines built by humans, and both are able to kill sentient beings when not supervised or controlled. Cars can kill cats and wildlife, and cats can kill wildlife too. Neither of both scenarios is ‘natural’, both are artificial and creations of humans. So what is the impact, and what can be done to keep both, our beloved companion cats and wildlife, safe?

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Why Fireworks Should Be Abolished (Republished)

Editor’s note: This post has originally been posted on 12th March 2022, and has now been updated and republished.

So called silent firework displays, which are in fact not silent at all, unless they are replaced by laser shows, are increasingly praised as the ultimate solution when it comes to addressing animal welfare concerns. At the first glance silent fireworks seem to be a logical solution, as reduced noise pollution is addressing one of the best known problems in this context. However, as it is commonly the case, there is the bigger picture to consider, and that is where the controversy starts, at least for people who feel very strongly that fireworks are part of their cherished traditions and well deserved rights, and of course for people, who have some sort of financial interest in the business of producing, selling or using fireworks.

Mallard family
Mallard family

Most people would agree that we should not do any intentional harm to other sentient beings, be it directly or indirectly. Fireworks have a proven negative impact onto our shared environment, and are therefore potentially harming other human and non-human animals, who are unlikely to have given consent to being harmed, neither in the short nor in the long term. This simply means that by using any type of firework, intentional harm is being done to others, which is ethically not justifiable. Therefore we could actually stop at this point, but for the sake of the argument, let us look a bit more in detail into the threats and problems caused by fireworks.

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