Urban Raptors - the new PRI/BBC/World podcast and forum

This week, Dr.Bird answers questions about birds - the raptors, especially those living inside of big cities. Listen to the podcast and join the discussion in the forums:

Listen to an interview about city-dwelling raptors. Download MP3

David Bird is a wildlife biologist at McGill University in Montreal. He directs the university's Avian Science and Conservation Center.

Bird is editor of the the new book Birds of Canada. He also wrote The Bird Almanac: A Guide to Essential Facts and Figures of the World's Birds.

On our radio program, we aired a story about how raptors -- birds of prey -- are struggling to survive in Beijing. You can listen to that story here.

Unlike Beijing, some cities are providing good habitat for raptors:

* Peregrine falcons now nest in churches and skyscrapers in North American and European cities.
* Goshawks are a common sight in Hamburg, Germany.
* Sparrowhawks are found in abundance in Nairobi, Kenya.

Learn about the thrills and perils of city life for raptors, and bring your own thoughts and questions to David Bird. He's our guest in the Forum through Friday, May 7th. The conversation is just to the right.

* How can you make your community more raptor-friendly?
* Do you live next door to a bird of prey? Tell us about your experiences.
* Have you been involved with conserving raptors in your city or neighborhood?

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Red Kites are increasingly common in suburban Oxford, and you see them occasionally over the city centre (although given the amount of green space I'm not sure that really counts); they're into the northern suburbs of Reading too; I've seen 13 in the sky at once over Didcot (a smallish town with lots of green space).

By stripey_cat (not verified) on 07 May 2010 #permalink