Hello Linda, I wish that birds were always so easy to see. A typical backyard feeder in North America regularly attracts only a few species depending on season and other factors. Backyard birders put up several types of feeders to attract birds with different feeding strategies and food preferences. Also consider that the birds I see in 105 deg F on an August afternoon in Columbia, SC is very different from what someone will see in Maine, Washington, Arizona, etc.
Dedicated birders spend an enormous amount of time and money to see new species at locations distant from their home. I do not count myself among the "dedicated birders" but I recently spent a week in Nevada and California and saw exactly two species I had never seen before. Backyard birders also spend a lot of time in their yards and neighborhoods hoping to see an unusual migrant or a bird displaced by storms or fires. The good news is that many birders are also dedicated conservationists who truly do care about things like habitat, food availability and quality, and ecosystems. Even those that are simply listers have an indirect effect because the money they spend and their presence in the field is used to help justify natural resource management programs by governments and NGOs. Regards, Daniel L. Tufford, Ph.D. University of South Carolina Department of Biological Sciences 209A Sumwalt (office) 701 Sumter St, Room 401 (mail) Columbia, SC 29208 Ph. 803-777-3292, Fx: 803-777-3292 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: http://www.biol.sc.edu/~tufford -----Original Message----- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Laura Marsh Sent: Monday, August 13, 2007 6:34 PM To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: Re: primate watching Hi all-- I'm a primatologist and although I personally have a list, I think the reason it is harder for folks to think in terms of lists on primates is easy: there are no wild primates in the US or Europe where the bulk of the bird twitchers live. It costs money, sometimes lots of it to go see a wild primate. Birds are easy and at our backyard feeders. Laura PS And oh how I wish monkeys came to our feeders instead! :) At 6:36 PM -0300 8/13/07, James J. Roper wrote: >Judith, > >I certainly did not mean to suggest that birders are not interested in the >objects of their attention, but they do so with a different sense of how to >go about it. Just ask a birder for some information about the behavior or >biology of birds they have seen, and be prepared to have a beer or two while >they tell their stories. > >I would venture to say that ALL people who are animal watchers (and even >plant watchers) are interested in the animals they watch. Birds just have >so many options tha they must divide their time among the many species, >while primatologists often have fewer species and so devote more time to >each. > >Jim > >On 8/13/07, Judith S. Weis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >> One would hope that primate watchers (or watchers of anything else) would >> become a bit more interested in the behaviors, life history etc. of the >> creatures they watch than many birders who couldn't care less about the >> biology of the birds they see, but just want to check them off their list. >> Does anybody know a way to get these people interested in the life >> history, behavior etc. of the birds and their conservation rather than >> just adding names to their lists? >> >> >> >> >> > There are currently estimated to be 625 species and subspecies of >> > primates,= >> > and 26% of those are in immediate danger of extinction (Critically >> > Endange= >> > red or Endangered). That may seem like only a few primates to some >> > people,= >> > but to those of us who work in primate conservation, it is 160 taxa too >> > ma= >> > ny.=0A=0AAsia actually leads the world in endangered primates with 55 >> taxa >> > = >> > (some down to a handful of individuals), Neotropics with 34, Africa with >> > 33= >> > , and Madagascar with 28. The Primate Specialist Group of the IUCN's >> > Speci= >> > es Survival Commission, Conservation International, and the >> International >> > P= >> > rimatological Society put out a list of the Top 25 Most Endangered >> > Primates= >> > every 2 years (the list created during the 2006 IPS meetings should be >> > rel= >> > eased soon). As is said every other year when that list is debated, the >> > li= >> > st could easily be 50 or 100 species long. Check out the Red List or >> the >> > 2= >> > 004 list of the top 25 most endangered primates >> > (http://web.conservation.or= >> > g/xp/news/press_releases/2005/040705.xml). =0A=0AJulie Wieczkowski, >> > admit= >> > tedly someone who studies one of the 43 endangered primates in Africa=0A >> = >> > =0A----- Original Message ----=0AFrom: William Silvert >> > <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >>=0ATo: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Monday, August 13, 2007 6:40:18 >> >> A= >> > M=0ASubject: Re: primate watching=0A=0A=0AThis is an interesting idea, >> but >> > = >> > the analogy to bird-watching is weak. There =0Aare only a few primates >> > that= >> > are serously endangered, mostly the great apes, =0Aand I think that >> > anyone= >> > motivated by life lists would simply head for =0AMadagascar and count >> > lemu= >> > rs. I suspect that getting a lot of spotters into =0Athe field would >> have >> > a= >> > negative impact on the species being spotted.=0A=0AIt is worth keeping >> in >> > = >> > mind that one of the most successful measures in bird =0Aconservation is >> > th= >> > e habitat preservation by Ducks Unlimited, whose motive is =0Ato shoot >> > duck= >> > s!=0A=0ABill Silvert=0A=0A=0A----- Original Message ----- =0AFrom: >> "WENDEE >> > = >> > HOLTCAMP" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>=0ATo: >> > <ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU>=0ASent:= > > > Sunday, August 12, 2007 7:19 PM=0ASubject: primate watching=0A=0A=0A>I >> > rea= >> > d something recently where someone was pondering whether we could=0A> >> > creat= >> > e a system of primate watching, similar to birdwatching, as a way to=0A> >> > ch= >> > annel funds into primate conservation. So instead of life lists for =0A> >> > bi= >> > rds=0A> (or in addition to) they would have life lists for primates. I >> > thou= >> > ght =0A> this=0A> was really interesting and was just going to try to >> > pitch= >> > an article on =0A> it,=0A> but now I can't seem to find it anywhere - I >> > di= >> > dn't find it from a google=0A> search and I can't remember if I saw this >> > in= >> > the news or a scientific=0A> journal TOC, or what. I am pretty sure it >> > was= >> > a primatologist or=0A> biologist/ecologist making the >> statement.=0A>=0A>= >> > =0A>=0A> Does this ring any bells for anyone? If so please contact me >> > offli= >> > st=0A> [EMAIL PROTECTED]>=0A> Wendee=0A>=0A> >> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~= >> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=0A>=0A> Wendee Holtcamp * Freelance Writer >> * >> > = >> > Photographer * Bohemian=0A>=0A> >> > <http://www.wendeeholtcamp.= >> > com/>=0A> http://www.wendeeholtcamp.com=0A> Bohemian Adventures Blog * >> > <ht= >> > tp://bohemianadventures.blogspot.com/>=0A> >> > http://bohemianadventures.blogsp= >> > ot.com=0A>=0A> The Fish Wars: A Christian Evolutionist =0A> >> > <http://thefish= >> > wars.blogspot.com/>=0A> http://thefishwars.blogspot.com=0A> >> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~= >> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=0A> Online Writing Course Starts Sep 15. >> > Si= >> > gn Up Now!=0A>=0A>=0A>=0A>=0A=0AJulie Wieczkowski, Ph.D.=0AAssistant >> > Profes= >> > sor=0ADepartment of Anthropology=0A332 Pafford=0AUniversity of West >> > Georgia= >> > =0ACarrollton, GA 30118=0A678-839-6458 (ph)=0A678-839-6466 >> > (fax)=0Ajuliewhi= >> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]/~jwhiz >> > >> > > > >-- >James J. Roper, Ph.D. >Ecologia e Dinâmicas Populacionais >de Vertebrados Terrestres >------------------------------ > >Caixa Postal 19034 >81531-990 Curitiba, Paraná, Brasil >------------------------------ > >E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Telefone: 55 41 33857249 >Mobile: 55 41 99870543 >------------------------------ > >Ecologia e Conservação na UFPR <http://www.bio.ufpr.br/ecologia/> >Personal Pages <http://jjroper.googlespages.com> -- ************************************************ Laura K. Marsh, Ph.D. Director Global Conservation Institute 156 County Road 113 Santa Fe, NM 87506 USA Main Tel: 505.455.0145 FAX: 505.455.0145 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Bringing Science and Entertainment Together *********************************************** "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." ---Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
