Posted on 12/11/2023 2:22:28 PM PST by allen592
In a heartwarming video that has taken the internet by storm, a man can be seen purchasing birds from a seller and promptly releasing them into the wild. This simple act of kindness has sparked both admiration and criticism from viewers. While some applaud the man's compassion, others question the effectiveness of his actions.
(Excerpt) Read more at thepetzealot.com ...
Those little birdies won’t live for long.
Touchy-feely vs logic.
Article doesn’t say what kinds of birds they are or where they came from. Depending on that, releasing them may be condemning them to death.
I don’t think this is ‘heartwarming’ at all.
It is a thing in some places where you can buy a wild bird just for the thrill of letting it go.
A long time ago in church a story was told where we are like birds in a cage, and Christ opened the cage. But we won’t fly out.
There’s more but that’s all I remember.
kinda like the Asian kids selling birds to tourists
Must have watched The Sand Pebbles recently.
“Those little birdies won’t live for long.”
You are correct. They probably will not. Once an animal has lived in captivity with their food provided twice a day, they have a hard time returning to the wild and fending for themselves.
On a side note, once I was at a zoo and as we were viewing the bear habitat, a large crow landed in the bears fenced in area. That bear reached over and snagged that crow so fast that we almost missed it. The bear then just stuffed the bird into its mouth. Our children had been told in school that bears ate berries and fish and were shocked to see the bear grab a bird for lunch. Other parents rushed their children away from the viewing area in cries of dismay at that cruel bear. However, our children found it fascinating and we remained to watch the bears hoping for a repeat.
Start a business selling homing pigeons to people who set them free.
Come back the next day and I do it all again.
It was not well thought out. If the birds are non-native they will compete with native birds for territory and food. They may end up driving away native ones.
Save a dog, save a horse....a bird? Birds are dumb
I remember people buying quail and pheasant so they could turn them loose and blast them. Long ago.
I remember a story about an ornithologist named Eugene Schieffelin who wanted to release all birds mentioned in Shakespeare into the new world (per anecdote). One of them was the starling, which competed very strongly with the eastern bluebird for nesting sites and food to the degree that the numbers of bluebirds declined particularly near cities. Schieffelin was also responsible for introducing the house sparrow; now one needs to visit the woods to see native sparrow species like the chipping sparrow.
Some years ago I was living in a condo in Florida that had these huge plate glass windows going up 2 floors. Because they reflected the sky an occasional bird would fly into it and drop to the ground momentarily stunned. One day a cockatiel hit the glass and lay stunned on the ground. I took it inside and fed it waiting to see if it recovered ok. It stayed on my shoulder the whole time affectionately nuzzling me. After a couple of days I opened the window wide to see if it wanted to be free. The bird had no interest in returning outside and was obviously attached to people. A woman on my floor was interested in getting a bird so I gave it to her.
Still happens all over the US.
As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!
For a great article on the keeping and releasing of birds, see:
https://www.dominicanajournal.org/st-thomas-and-the-keeping-of-pets/
by Fr. Bonaventure Chapman.
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