Will shooting 250 raptors really help Lower Austria?

It seems the Lower Austrian (Niederösterreich) government - in their infinite wisdom - has decided that 250 raptors need to be shot in order to protect endangered species in the state. As far as I can tell, the official line is that there are 26 small animal species in the region that need protection and that 200 Common Buzzards (Mäusebussards) and 50 Northern Goshawks (Habicht) need to be shot by the end of January 2009 in order to protect these endangered species.

So much of this story just gets to me. I try to be calm and rational. But this just blows my top!

The WWF Austria page on the raptor shooting decree states, "There is no scientific evidence that either Common Buzzard or Northern Goshawks are a threat to any of the 26 [endangered] species mentioned in the decree. In fact, there is no evidence of either of the raptor species even preying on 16 of the cited species." (my rough translation)

This - to me - strongly suggests that there is some other interest at play that is not driven by conservation of endangered species. At the very least, this flies in the face of what conservation thought has said for at least 60 years - killing predators does not help conservation! and is the type of thinking that dominated hunting circles in the 19th century and before. Hunters were - undoubtedly - at the forefront of conservation and we have visionary hunters like ex-US President Theodore Roosevelt to thank for national parks, conservation action and protected wilderness areas. But ever since Aldo Leopold and his contemporaries, conservation thought has been led by the idea of thinking in terms of ecosystems. Aldo Leopolds "Thinking like a Mountain" writings are so beautiful and insightful, that I posted a piece of his writing in my earlier blog (it should be just below this one). In this article, Aldo Leopold speaks of the predator-killing mentality of previous times; when hunters (and park rangers) would always shoot at predators because they were seen as vermin that threaten the deer and so threaten the beauty and naturalness of the area. They were - in short - unwanted pests that should, in a perfect world, not be there. But, it was a close encounter with a dying wolf that opened Aldo's heart and helped him see how the wolves were an integral and crucial part of the ecosystem.

In the article "Wolves and Deforestation - Thinking like a Mountain", Aldo Leopold stresses how too many deer eventually harm the ecosystem. Hunters here will tell you that they shoot enough deer here so that their numbers do not get too large and, consequently, we do not need wolves or bears or lynx in the Austrian / Tirolean forests. That these predators are dangerous and life without them is better.
This makes me want to cry.
For we cannot know the intricacies of how predators affect change on deer populations and entire ecosystems. But more importantly, there is a power, beauty and majesty that great animals bring to open spaces. (but, at least we still have the Golden Eagles! ;-)

Shooting Buzzards and Goshawks to protect endangered species they do not eat is as ludicrous as shooting Alpine Brown Bears to protect the Ibex!

A few other arguments I have come across against the shoot include:

1. the shoot is likely to be uncontrolled (or uncontrollable) and so many other raptor species (Saker Falcon, Imperial Eagles, White-tailed Eagles, Hen Harrier/Northern Harrier, Peregrine Falcon, Rough-legged Buzzard...) are likely to be "erroneously" shot.
2. a Winter shoot would include many birds that are just over-wintering in the area and have joined us from elsewhere
3. many of the endangered species in question are - at the moment - either on holiday in the tropics or hibernating

(Jos Stratford makes some good points on birdforum here)

If you are interested in seeing WWF Austria's English summary, click here, and feel free to sign their petition.


Happy birding
Dale Forbes

Snow shoe birding in the Alps / Tirol

Christmas time saw great weather in the mountains - we had had fresh snow just before Christmas and lots of blue skies since. I tried to play in the snow every day - skiing, sledding, walking and - thanks to Father Chistmas - show shoe hiking.


It really is wonderful to spend hours of quiet and solitude in the tranquil mountains. There is something about the woods in winter - there is a stillness that the snow brings that I can't quite describe. It is as though everything is holding its breath, waiting for something.

Just before New Year's, I took a hike from Axams to Axamerkogel. The forest down near Axams was alive with life. Well, maybe not dripping with life, but pretty cool for winter birding at least. What I have noticed is that one can walk for long periods of time without hearing one little peep from a bird and not seeing anything anywhere, and then suddenly you stumble upon a mixed-species bird party. It seems that the birds form the roaving groups that can have as many as a dozen bird species in them, all feeding together. Common winter party-goers include Coal Tits, Great Tits, groups of Firecrests, Eurasian and Short-toed Treecreepers, and Eurasian Nuthatches (Tannenmeisen, Kohlmeisen, Wintergoldhänchen, Waldbaumläufer, Gartenbaumläufer, Kleiber). Sometimes one of the other tit species will join - Crested Tits, Blue Tits (Habenmeisen, Blaumeisen). The Long-tailed Tits seem to join these mixed-species feeding parties occassionally, but their association seems to be a lot more loose: groups of five/six Long-tailed Tits will move around foraging together, join a foraging party for a while, and then slowly drift off in their own direction...

Heading out of Axams in the morning, I saw a flash of a raptor (looking very Accipiter-like) through the trees but did not get a good enough look to make an ID. Later on, coming down the mountain, a beautiful, big female Northern Goshawk rushed through the trees overhead (Habicht). So the other, smaller Accipiter was probably the male.

I have seen a few Northern Goshawks lately - always deep in the forests and always rather shy. But lovely to see nonetheless.

The raptor life here is - at the moment - dominated by tons of Common Buzzards (Mäusebussards). Everywhere we go, we see them circling overhead, sitting in the fields and peering out from their telephone-pole lookouts. The Common Kestrels continue to pester the pigeons in town.

I have seen very few Golden Eagles recently. Their daily range is much increased in Winter and this may have something to do with it. But, a couple of times I have seen them right down low in the valleys - and on one occassion we even saw a pair circling over the Inn between Kematen and Zirl. It is very unusual to see them so low down. I wonder what they were doing...?

Winter might not be the most exciting time for birding in the Alps, but the beauty of the forest and mountains certain keep one entertained between birds!

Happy birding
Dale Forbes