Non-Native Species

Thumbnail image for One More Reason [for Me] to Love Starlings . . .

One More Reason [for Me] to Love Starlings . . .

August 15, 2010 Non-Native Species

. . . because they have artistic sensibilities: Related posts: The Lady Fairer How Starlings Colonized the United States

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The Lady Fairer

May 14, 2010 Non-Native Species

Have you seen her all in gold Like a queen in days of old? She shoots colors all around, Like a sunset going down, Have you seen the lady fairer? I know

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All Right, Mr. DeMille . . .

April 6, 2010 Non-Native Species

This umbrella was left behind in a park where some of San Francisco’s wild parrot flock was foraging for dropped fruit in the grass.

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Videos: Changing Our Cultural Views of Pigeons

January 8, 2010 Doves & Pigeons

This video is about people who’ve cared enough for pigeons to effect positive, cultural change on their behalf. There are humane ways for humans to cohabit with urban pigeons.

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Yellow Star Thistle and the Reticular Activating System

August 25, 2009 Flora

Invasive plants and motivational seminars collide in my world. If you’ve ever attended a goal-generating seminar, you’ve probably heard the term Reticular Activating System (RAS) tossed around. It’s used in motivational circles to describe our physiological capacity to pay attention. The RAS is part of a large network in our nervous systems, controlling consciousness, sensory [...]

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The Goldfinch and Thistle (A Pub With No Pints)

August 22, 2009 Flora

The Bay Area has a thistle problem, but goldfinches weren’t complaining on our hike yesterday. As stated in this sign, there are earnest efforts to limit the spread of wild artichoke thistle which tends to push out native plants and grasslands. Invasive thistles are aggressive, using up water resources and messing with habitat for wildlife [...]

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Attack of the Giant Fish People

July 7, 2009 Fish

I saw these gigantic creatures slithering through the shallows — whipping up mud with each slap of the tail. They looked like radioactive versions of pond koi, ranging from about two to four feet long. And where I was, it was just me and and wind and the sound of their slither, evoking the Creature [...]

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How Starlings Colonized the United States (and Other Stories)

June 6, 2009 Agriculture

William Shakespeare gets a bad rap for all of the Starlings. The story (or rumor) goes that some Victorian-era Shakespeare fans — misguided to be sure — hatched a plan to colonize, on U.S. soil, every bird species featured in Shakespeare’s plays. According to this Scientific American article a group known as the American Acclimatization [...]

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