As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Wednesday 17 October 2012

Eating Protected Birds Poses Legal Challenges


When a white-winged dove crashed head-first into the side of his house and died on impact, Ryan Adams decided to make the best of a sad situation: a gourmet dinner.

But the Pflugerville, Texas, resident didn't realize that while he solemnly rubbed the bird with bacon grease and paprika, he was also rubbing state law enforcers the wrong way.

Though white-winged doves, a popular game bird, had gone into season in Texas 24 hours before Adams heard the thump, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department took issue with the apparently illicit means by which Adams had attained his meal, without either a gun or a license. The agency opened an investigation into his activities, according to CBS Dallas/Fort Worth, finding ample evidence on Adams' blog, where he had documented the preparation and consumption of the bird in vivid detail.

"People travel long distances and pay big bucks to hunt these birds, and one had just been dropped into my hands," Adams wrote in his blog post. "A lot of people would either bury or throw away a dead animal under these circumstances. I am not one of them."

But it turns out that Adams' pioneer mentality is in conflict with both state and federal law, the latter of which protects white-winged doves under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

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