Hi Dick and all,
The Satin Bowerbird and plastic milk bottle ring saga has been going on for
quite a few years now. The blue milk bottle rings are collected by the
bowerbird and if they happen to flip over the head while the bird is
holding it in its bill, it gets stuck around the neck and between the
mandibles, stopping the bird from eating or drinking until it dies or
(occasionally) is rescued by someone. In the past I've had quite a bit of
correspondence with milk bottle manufacturers about this and some have been
very co-operative in devising ways to avoid this problem. However, as soon
as it seems to be solved with one product, other products then appear with
the same sort of blue rings! It's a never-ending story. There needs to be
some sort of legislation against these types of plastic rings.
I always check the contents of bowers and usually find at least some
unbroken blue rings, which I then either break or remove. Occasionally I've
found a green or a yellow one. As Dick suggested, if you use these type of
plastic bottles (and it's not only milk) the ring should be cut before
disposing of it - bowerbirds will raid picnic areas and garbage tips to
collect these. Not to mention other wildlife getting harmed by all sorts of
discarded items....
Carol
Dick Jenkin wrote:
>
>If anyone saw Burke's Backyard on Friday night they would have been
>horrified at the damage that plastic rings can do to our wildlife. They
>showed a male Satin Bowerbird that had been choked by a blue plastic ring
>from a milk bottle or similar.
>
>A simple solution was to cut the ring at least once before disposing of it.
>
>Cheers
>
>Dick Jenkin
>DUNGOG NSW
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