Are Bird watchers a little crazy? They luv some,but kill others.Whats the difference,can’t same apply to peopl

Law protects the purple martin, being native to this continent, but not the English house sparrow and European starling. It is perfectly legal to trap and/or shoot them. Most birding societies and wildlife federations promote these actions because starlings and house sparrows are taking a devastating toll on our native-cavity nesting birds.

Starlings and House Sparrows (also called English Sparrows) do cause huge problems for native North American birds. Its not just Purple Martins, but any bird that nests in a cavity, like bluebirds, wrens, woodpeckers and many others. Both House Sparrows and European Starlings will kill both parents and young to get access to the nest cavity.

Both these species, along with Rock Pigeons were introduced by well meaning people who missed their native birds from Europe. This was attempted with a few other species as well, but not successfully. Because they are not part of the natural ecology its difficult for our native birds to deal with them.

I do not think “most” birding societies encourage the killing of these birds, though individuals in these societies do. I do know that most people with Purple Martin and Bluebird houses will keep House Sparrows from nesting by using special baffles on the nest holes and throwing out any nests the sparrows build. A few that I know do trap and kill the sparrows. It may seem cruel, but humans caused the disruption, so we need to figure out how to solve the problem.

探鳥会（野鳥の会）：出発前の様子Bird-watching party (bird-watching society):

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