"it seems normal to regard birds as a commodity,because that is how
Americans see things.
​"​

This is perfect Bill.  And birders are seen as potential customers or
donors, and so uninhibited growth in the sport/hobby is seen as good, and
any sort of admonishment or criticism is bad because it might discourage
people or turn them away.

Of course the tired old SeaWorld argument gets dragged out time and again.
I.e.It creates awareness and then people care, etc.  But that does not hold
up to scrutiny in terms of real action taken by the community of birding
enthusiasts.

Haans

On Tue, Dec 2, 2014 at 5:07 PM, Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I felt alienated from this discussion until I read the comments of Ken
> Archambault and Allen Chartier. They remind me of a better day. Today's
> numerical accumulations of projects like eBird are fine as far as they
> go---but who really cares about the names of all the observers for any
> record? Seems we are counting the birders rather than the birds. And the
> eBird folks, who I am persuaded are interested only in science, still
> encourage observers to compete. Photographs become trophies more than
> documentation. How many photos do we need? Birds, even though we know
> what they look like, fly away, but our many many photos remain. And they
> are seen as more real, a commodity. Rare birds become news today mostly
> because of the stampedes they cause among birders. It is really all
> about us, and this is an obsession that's growing.
>        In such an atmosphere, it seems normal to regard birds as a
> commodity,
> because that is how Americans see things. Birds are undeniably things,
> but they are living animals, existing beyond the values too many of us
> ascribe to them. They are aware of us as we are of them, and way beyond
> our selfish preoccupations. This freedom, it seems to me, is something
> we humans value--even if in our weakness we seek to deny it--and I think
> it is at the heart of what we do as birders, even when we may be led
> astray by other concerns.
> Bill Whan
> Columbus
>
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