Tennessee hunter kills bizarre albino turkey in Rutherford County - (Just had to kill it though eh?)

Mike Organ  Nashville Tennessean

Published 12:28 PM EDT Apr 13, 2019

It's being called the "turkey of a lifetime," by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

That's how TWRA officials described a rare leucistic gobbler killed by a hunter in Rutherford County last week.

Cameron Bond of Warren County shot the unusual bird on April 6.

A rare leucistic turkey was shot by a hunter in Rutherford County.

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency

Leucism in birds, according to the TWRA, is a loss of pigmentation. It is a genetic abnormality.

The beard on the turkey Bond killed was dark and the back feathers still held some color. 

Bond said the turkey weighed 20 pounds. It's beard measured nine and one-half inches and its spurs were .75.

Spring turkey hunting season in Tennessee opened on March 31 and continues through May 1.

Source

Rare white sparrow seen in Turkish capital

White-colored sparrow, also known as ‘partially albino’, found in one of the biggest public park in Ankara

By Yıldız Nevin Gundogmus and Mustafa Kamaci

A rare white sparrow, also known as "partially albino" due to the pigmentation in its eyes and part of wing, was seen in Turkish capital.

The bird was first photographed by Emin Yogurtcuoglu, a Turkish wildlife expert and bird observer, last year.

It was also seen this year in Altinpark, one of the biggest public park in Ankara, together with its pair and other sparrows.

Yogurtcuoglu, who has been observing birds in 60 countries, told Anadolu Agency that the sparrow has been living in the park since a year.

He explained that the bird is called partial albino because of “the blackness of its eyes and the pigmentation in a very small point on its wing,” noting that every white bird could not be called as albino.

“It always has a normal-looking pair, who never leaves its side. They've been together since last year,” he added.

Yogurtcuoglu also said that white sparrow could not last long in the nature, as they are easy target for predatory animals.

“It's [the white sparrow] a pretty good-looking one, who's managed to survive,” he said.

Source  

Bird population increases around Lake Erçek in Van

June 19 2018 00:01:00

VAN – Anadolu Agency

The number of birds in eastern Turkey’s Van lake basin have increased following heavy rains in the region, according to a biology professor. 

Atilla Durmuş, a professor at Yüzüncü Yıl University’s Department of Biology in Van, told state-run Anadolu Agency that the birds enjoy easy nourishment and breeding due to rainfall this year. 

Visitors in the region can observe around 213 bird types among hundreds of other birds in the Van lake basin, which is home to one five of wetlands in Turkey. Different bird species in the basin offer unique beauties to visitors. 

The basin, which is also one of the places preferred by scientists for their research, is home to birds like flamingoes, swans, white-headed ducks, black-winged stilts, avocets, herons, ringed plovers, wild geese and others. 

As the region is on the migratory route, various bird species can be seen in every season. Festivals are organized to promote the region to the world. 

Read on  

Rare albino turkey vulture found in Stuart

By Holly Kozelsky

May 13, 2018

STUART-Brenda Bowman figures her granddaughter’s got a leg up on her: 11-year-old Kylee Tyson is seeing something her grandmother is only seeing at the age of 63.

It was an albino turkey vulture, something even an expert has only heard about three times.

They saw it on April 29, when “my granddaughter and I went out to take an evening stroll. Kylee is the one who spotted it,” Bowman said. They live in Patrick County between Stuart and the state line.

“There were other vultures after it — 10 to 14. I think they were trying to kill it,” she said.

The large white bird “circled around and landed on the tractor shed. It was pretty smart,” she said. “It walked along the tractor roof and hid itself under a tree from the other vultures.”

She got her binoculars to get a closer look at what she had thought was a hawk. She saw it looked like a vulture.

She and Kylee “waited a while, then we walked on toward the tractor shed, trying to scare the black vultures off.”

The white vulture flew away after the black ones had left, she said. It flew to the back of her property toward a creek.

Read more  

Great White Pelican discovery in Turkey

9 May 2018

by Burak Özkırlı & Gui-Xi Young

A major stopover site of Europe’s Great White Pelicans has recently been discovered in Turkey. A count conducted by our Turkish partner Doğa Derneğishowed that more than 15,000 pelicans stop off at the Karacabey Floodplain to roost and feed during their spring migration.

The Sea of Marmara may be the smallest sea in the world, but it is now home to a very big discovery for bird lovers – a major stopover spot for more than 15,000 Great White Pelicans breaking up their epic spring migration journey. The site at the Karacabey Floodplain, in Turkey’s north-western region of Marmara, is of global significance because it holds at least half of the species European population during spring migration – and five percent of the world population. The wetland is now also considered important for other waterbird species such as Dalmatian Pelican and Glossy Ibis.

The discovery was made recently by Doğa Derneği (BirdLife Turkey) in the context of their ongoing work to safeguard migratory birds passing over the country along the Africa-Eurasia flyway. As part of their education and community outreach work on illegal bird killing – boosted in the last year thanks to funding by the 2017 Champions of the Flyway race – Doğa Derneği had been working in cooperation with the municipality of Karacabey and other local groups to co-organize a migratory bird monitoring event. Over these three days of systematic counting, the great pelican discovery was made!

Continued  

Rare albino bird seen for 1st time in southern Turkey

Albino Eurasian coot (Fulica atra) spotted for first time among thousands of other fowls, say Turkish officials

12:02 March 28, 2018Anadolu Agency

A rare albino bird has been spotted for the first time in southern Turkey, the nation’s Forestry and Water Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday.

The Albino Eurasian coot (Fulica atra) was spotted among thousands of other birds at Lake Akyatan, in the Adana province, a protected nature area, the ministry said in a statement.

The bird is normally recognized by its white bill and forehead shield.

Lake Akyatan is important and rich in terms of the number of birds it attracts, its position along migration routes, the diversity of its living environment, and favorable climatic conditions, the statement added.

The area attracts around 250 species of birds over the course of the year, according to the statement.

Continued  

Conservation efforts by Turkish ministries boosts number of endangered ibis by 6 times

DAILY SABAH

ISTANBUL

February 1, 2018

The number of endangered northern bald ibis in Turkey have almost multiplied by six in the past 16 years, thanks to conservation efforts by the Ministry of Forestry and Natural Resources, and the Ministry of Environment, reports said Thursday.

According to a statement released by the ministry of forestry, the number of northern bald ibis, also known as Geronticus eremita, increased to 240 in 2017 from just 42 in 2001.

Some 47 endangered birds were born last year alone, the ministry added.

In cooperation with the ministry of environment and the ministry of forestry, a semi-wild colony was established in southeastern Şanlıurfa province's Birecik district to prevent the extinction of the northern bald ibis.

Here, the birds were put under protection after the breeding season to prevent migration, which usually takes place in July or August.

The Minister of Forestry and Water Works, Veysel Eroğlu, said that the ministry started using tracking devices on birds in 2008 to observe their migration patterns.

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Turkey: Hundreds of rare African gray parrots seized

Parrots smuggled from Congo were seized at a customs warehouse in Istanbul

Turkey 09.01.2018     

By Zehra Aydin Turapoglu, Burcu Arik

ANKARA

Customs officials in Istanbul seized more than 300 rare African gray parrots (Psittacus erithacus) smuggled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said an official on Tuesday.

The General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National (DKMP) teams were last week tipped off about a illegal trafficking of endemic African parrots and cooperated with Customs Enforcement and Anti-Smuggling and Intelligence Directorate units to find the birds. 

The official from Turkish Forestry and Water Affairs Ministry, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to media, said the birds were found at a customs warehouse in a cargo package en route to Iraq.

Trade of endemic birds was in 2016 under Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Read on  

Over 800 rare birds seized in Turkey’s southeast

İstanbul DHA14.11.2017 17:55

Some 838 rare goldfinches being smuggled by traffickers were seized in the southeastern province of Gaziantep on Monday.

The rare birds were found during a search of the trailer of a truck supposedly carrying cement to Syria.

Customs officials on duty at the Karkamış customs gate found the birds in cages under cement bags.

The birds were then delivered to the Branch Office of Nature Conservation and National Parks and were later released back into the wild.

Read on  

Major oil spill in Turkey; emergency teams deployed

By Doğa Derneği, 19 Jan 2017 

A major oil spill is affecting coastal areas in western Turkey. Doğa Derneği (Birdlife Turkey) has deployed an emergency team of volunteers to help oiled wildlife.

In the clear waters of Izmit Bay in western Turkey, a major oil spill is putting human health and marine biodiversity at risk. The spill occurred last Friday near the rich Key Biodiversity Area of Kocaeli Tepeleri, affecting bird species such as European Shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis, Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo and Common Coot Fulica atra.

Over the weekend, locals rang the alarm as oiled birds and deep-sea marine life started washing up ashore. As soon as the leakage began, Doğa’s Local Conservation Groups began work to rescue the affected wildlife, transferring them to the nearest wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre, Faruk Yalçın Zoo.

Itri Levent Erkol, Conservation Manager at Doğa Derneği, visited the coast and surrounding marine areas as soon as they were informed of the disaster. “Even if officially the cleaning and rescue work is now considered finished, we are still finding dead bodies of cormorants and coots”, says Erkol. “We are even finding oiled birds alive and citizens are having to take them home to clean them up, which is not recommended.”

Zoo officials informed Erkol that 17 of 58 rescued birds died for different reasons related to the oil spill, but the conditions of the survivors are improving.  

Continued 

Transnational conservation in Turkey could save six threatened bird species

By Sanya Khetani-Shah, 31 May 2016

In a great example of nature conservation knowing no national boundaries, Doğa Derneği (BirdLife in Turkey), with the support of theBulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB, BirdLife in Bulgaria), MME (BirdLife in Hungary) and the Ornithological Society of the Middle East (OSME), have launched a new protection programme for six globally Threatened bird species breeding in Turkey’s steppes.

The project – which aims to protect the Sociable Lapwing, Egyptian Vulture, Steppe Eagle, Eastern Imperial Eagle, Great Bustard andWhite-headed Duck – will be implemented in collaboration with locals living near the species’ habitats.

The Critically Endangered Sociable Lapwing occurs in the East Anatolian steppes solely during migration, while the other five species have significant breeding populations across the region. Turkey is particularly important for the Endangered Egyptian Vulture: approximately 20 percent of the world’s population and at least one third of the European population breeds in Turkey.

In the coming weeks and months, Doğa’s bird experts and social studies teams will be traveling across the Central Anatolian steppes to meet locals to generate awareness and develop local conservation plans where these species breed in significant numbers. Most of main breeding grounds of these species lie within private land and community pastures, which are highly affected by farming and grazing. Doğa, BSPB and MME form networks and alliances with locals to secure the best possible land use and habitat management for the Egyptian Vulture, Eastern Imperial Eagle and the Steppe Eagle, building on international best practices, while OSME is supporting Doğa in protecting the White-headed Duck.

Read on:  

Turkish Breeding Bird Atlas — can you help?

Turkey is one of the most fascinating countries in the Western Palearctic for birds. The country is strategically located between Europe and Asia, and is a meeting point for a variety of biomes. Its position and the large variety of habitats have contributed to the accumulation of an impressive national list of 474 species (and counting!).

Specialities and rarities include Yelkouan Shearwater, White-headed Duck, Purple Swamphen, Caucasian Black Grouse, Caspian Snowcock, See-see Partridge, Audouin's Gull, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Brown Fish Owl, Pallid Scops Owl, four species of vulture, Rüppell's Warbler, White-throated Robin, Krüper's Nuthatch and Red-fronted Serin, to name only a handful.

Continued ...

More bad news on the Turkish BALD IBIS front

Northern bald ibis – Abrupt end to 2013 Turkish tagging release trial?

The trial release of six ibis from the semi-wild colony at Birecik, three of which were satellite tagged, has ended abruptly, and unfortunately, we don't have a clear idea as to what has happened.

The birds were released in late July and, after an initial spell staying nearby in Turkey, five of the six (including all three tagged birds) suddenly moved off south in August and most intriguingly ended up stopping for almost three weeks very close to the last Syrian colony near Palmyra... where only one adult of the truly wild population had spent the spring this year. The birds then started moving again in early September, but instead of heading further south, they moved west towards Homs and just a few days later all three tagged birds stopped transmitting within a few hours of each other - we don't have very clear information on the exact last locations, and its obviously not an area that could be searched owing to the current security situation.

Read on

Reintroduced Northern bald ibis fly south for winter

Hope that Turkish bald ibis will provide a boost for Middle East population

August 2013. Following a successful breeding season for the semi-wild Northern Bald Ibis population at Birecik in Turkey, six of the birds were released as part of a trial re-introduction in late July. 

A dedicated team first caught up all the birds for the annual ringing/check of the birds at the Birecik ‘Kelaynak' breeding station run by the Turkish Ministry of Nature Protection and National Parks, and six were selected for release in the hope that they would survive and migrate. Three were fitted with satellite transmitters, and to reduce the chance of persecution, their bright rings were replaced with much less conspicuous ones. Four of the birds were 2013 juveniles, and in addition, two one-year old birds were also released.

Migrated very close to Palmyra

For the first two weeks, the birds remained very close to the breeding station, feeding at a number of local sites in the area, as well as taking supplementary food provided. This week, however, excitement mounts as five of the birds have departed south, and the intriguing news is that they have stopped off very close to Palmyra in Syria, where the remaining wild population there has this year sadly declined to just one individual.

Whether the birds will stay in the area or continue their ‘migration' further south will be discovered from the satellite tags. The work was recommended as a priority at last year's inaugural meeting of the AEWA International Working Group for Northern Bald Ibis, held at Jazan in Saudi Arabia and by the International Advisory Group for Northern Bald Ibis. Several partners are involved in the work in addition to the Turkish Ministry, with satellite tags provided by Doğa Derneği (BirdLife in Turkey), with Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and RSPB (BirdLife in the UK) support.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/bald-ibis-turkey.html

Turkey clears bird of spying for Israel

The kestrel was discovered by residents of Altinavya, a village in Elazig province, wearing a metallic ring stamped with the words “24311 Tel Avivunia Israel”. Suspicious that the bird may have been on a spying mission for the Jewish state, villagers turned the bird over to local authorities, according to Turkish media.

So great was the level of concern medical personnel at Elazig’s Firat University initially identified the kestrel as “Israeli Spy” in their registration documents. Intensive medical examinations - including X-rays - determined that the bird was, indeed, just a bird. There were no sign of microchips that might transmit information back to Israel, local media reported. The kestrel was allowed to fly off after authorities determined there was no need to press charges.

Yet the incident shows the degree of paranoia and xenophobia regarding Israel that exists among large segments of Turkish society. It comes as talks between Turkey and Israel over compensation for families of those killed in the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident have stalled.

Eight Turks and one Turkish-American were killed on May 31, 2010 when Israeli commandos stormed the Turkish vessel carrying aid to the embargoed Gaza Strip.

Ties between the countries suffered until United States President Barack Obama brokered a reconciliation between the two sides during a visit to Israel earlier this year.

Continued

Birds may spread, not halt, fever-bearing ticks

November 30, 2012

A Turkish biologist at the University of Utah questions Turkey's use of the birds to control ticks that spread Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, contending the birds instead may help spread the disease. 

Turkey raises and releases thousands of non-native guineafowl to eat ticks that carry the deadly Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus. Yet research suggests guineafowl eat few ticks, but carry the parasites on their feathers, possibly spreading the disease they were meant to stop, says a Turkish biologist working at the University of Utah.  

"They are introducing a species that is not eating many ticks, based on studies of stomach content, and is carrying the ticks, which are the best conduit for spreading Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever," says Çağan Şekercioğlu (pronounced Cha-awn Shay-care-gee-oh-loo), an assistant professor of biology at the University of Utah. 

"They should stop these introductions immediately because there is a risk they may be doing the opposite of what they intended," says Şekercioğlu, an ornithologist or bird expert and founder of the Turkish environmental group KuzeyDoğa Society. 

"They want to stop this disease, but they may be helping spread it." 

In a paper, set for publication soon in the journal Trends in Parasitology, Şekercioğlu reviewed existing scientific literature. He concluded that the idea guineafowl eat ticks and thus control disease is based on unconvincing evidence even though it achieved "cult status" after a 1992 study suggesting the birds could control ticks that carry Lyme disease bacteria in the U.S. Northeast, at least on lawns. Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever was identified as an emerging disease in Turkey in 2002. Between then and last May, the tick-borne virus infected 6,392 people in Turkey and killed 322 of them, according to statistics cited by Şekercioğlu. It was first identified in Crimea in 1944 and then in the Congo in 1969, and now it is found in Eastern and Southern Europe, the Mediterranean region, the Middle East, northwest China, central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-11-birds-halt-fever-bearing.html#jCp

Today's Domestic Turkeys Are Genetically Distinct from Wild Ancestors

ScienceDaily (Nov. 19, 2012) — No Thanksgiving dinner is complete without a succulent roasted turkey. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that consumers cook and eat more than 45 million turkeys every Thanksgiving. Very few Americans, however, know much about the difference between their gravy-smothered poultry and the poultry that earlier generations of Americans ate to celebrate the holiday.

"Ancient turkeys weren't your Butterball," said Rob Fleischer, head of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics. "We set out to compare the genetic diversity of the domestic turkeys we eat today with that of the ancestral wild turkey from South Mexico. Some of what we found surprised us."

What an SCBI scientist and collaborators found was that the domestic turkey that ends up on the dinner table exhibits less genetic variation than not only its ancestral wild counterparts, which were first domesticated in 800 B.C., but also than other livestock breeds, such as domestic pigs or chickens. The genetic traits affected by the variation are body size and breast muscle development -- features that can help determine the likelihood of a consumer buying a turkey. The results of the study were recently published in BMC Genomics.

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121119171259.htm

PETA to Obama: Turkey pardon ceremony is for the birds

In what has become a Thanksgiving tradition, the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals is asking for an end to a Thanksgiving tradition.

On Tuesday, PETA sent a letter to President Obama asking him to skip the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardon, a tradition that dates back to Abraham Lincoln. The letter sent by PETA president Ingrid Newkirk said the ceremony “makes light of the mass slaughter of some 46 million gentle, intelligent birds” and “portrays the United States president as being in some sort of business partnership with the turkey-killing industry.”

“We usually ask for other things, but this is the first time we have asked (the president) to give the ceremony a rest,’’ Newkirk told TODAY.com. “I think it’s just been building. The time has come. It’s hard to find anybody who supports the idea of factory farming, and there have been so many reports this year of the environmental effects of factory farming. To have a president who is supposed to be progressive standing there with an industry representative of factory farming knowing about these environmental issues, it’s not very green to welcome him to the White House and endorse factory farms.’’

Continued:  http://holidayblog.today.com/_news/2012/11/20/15312994-peta-to-obama-turkey-pardon-ceremony-is-for-the-birds?lite