Hello birders,
Here’s a controversial topic: Is it okay to feed a Snowy Owl to get a better look, get a better photo? Seems cruel to throw live mice toward an owl, at least for the mice. And obviously one should not feed an owl a poisoned rodent. But apparently there are arguments on the other side, because the ABA’s Recording Standards and Ethic Committee has not ruled one way or the other, as far as I know. Here’s from the October, 2015 “Birder’s Guide to Listing & Taxonomy.” Nick Block of the RSEC said, “….Another issue concerns the feeding of owls, particularly wintering Snowy and Great Gray owls. As you may know, the debate over this practice is a giant can of worms, but it may be one the at RSEC needs to open. We shall see.” I don’t plan to feed or bait a Snowy owl. Regarding an owl near DIA, I don’t think anyone should encourage it to stay near the airport by feeding it. Airport managers don’t want them around. I think we can all agree that it is wrong to flush any owl by approaching too closely. Let’s give Snowy Owls as much room as they want. If the owl stirs, back off. And of course, stay off private property. Best, Tom Wilberding Boulder -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/ef3a703f-3184-4a17-8d0f-32e4445c0199%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
