[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TAS BirdBoard ] [ FAQ ]
Posted by Rock Jetty on 07:09:27 02/27/10
Hello folks,
This year has been an incredible year for Painted and Indigo Bunting numbers (thanks again Tricia for Buntingfest 2010) - stock up your feeders!
Unfortunately, there are people out there who trap them. Be on the lookout for this. Back in 2003, I became aware of this practice while birding around the Krome Ave area in west Miami-Dade. Over the course of that winter, I busted a few folks trapping buntings, made calls to FWC and raised awareness of this issue, and destroyed traps I found, releasing the buntings (usually one female to attract the male) inside.
Since then, state and federal authorities have become better equipped to deal with this problem (back then I spoke with a few state officials who didn't know what a Painted Bunting was). This practice of collecting Painted Buntings may have slowed a bit but I can't help but feel that it is still taking place. Sorry to say that the people doing this are mainly of Cuban background. Buntings and grassquits are popular cagebirds in Cuba (I know, I'm from there).
Unfortunately, the main reason for this seems to be lack of education on the subject, although some people know better. If you come across cages or catch people in the act of trapping, please report this to FWC, don't try to stop them on your own - unless you're with a big group of birders and can hopefully scare them off.
FWC hotline: 1-888-404-3922
Cheers and bird on!
RJ
P.S. 166 (165 ABA) for the year and counting.
[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TAS BirdBoard ] [ FAQ ]