“Hats” Off to Audubon!
In the late 1800’s, a group of Boston society women gathered over afternoon tea to save birds from being slaughtered for the contemporary fashion of using feathers in the hat trade. Unbeknownst to this group of women, the ideas generated in their forthcoming meetings were the genesis of the avian conservation movement and the Audubon Society for the protection and study of wild birds. These women threw down the gauntlet to the then-powerful plume industry and drove it out of business within a decade thereby saving thousands of wild birds from slaughter in the process. As these Audubon pioneers kick-started the modern conservation movement, they developed their stratagem to effectively communicate the scientific basis for their concerns and objectives to the general public which have become indispensable to the twenty first century global environmental movement. They wrote articles, conducted town hall meetings, participated in informal gatherings, and, most importantly, designed and promoted fashionable alternatives to exotic feathered hats which would equally satisfy the consumers. The promotion of eco-tourism follows the identical process which is to offer and promote truly enjoyable holiday activities as a wonderful alternative to less environmentally sensitive vacations and thereby satisfy the needs of the consumer in a way that protects our natural heritage at the same time. This year, the Audubon Society celebrates its 100th Anniversary with a membership that extends to many hundreds of thousands in the North American Continent and beyond. Happy Birthday Audubon …. and may you have many, many more! Ornithology is 2000 years young!
Knowledge about birds and bird migration was first put into print some 2000 years ago by Aristotle who, without the benefit of modern technology, identified as many as 140 bird species and established the foundation of the science of ornithology. In the 1700s, Linnaeus identified about 500 different bird species out of the approximately 8700 which we know that exist today, and in his treatise on the migration of birds, “Migrationes Avium” (1757), he propagated the delusion that swallows hibernate at the bottom of lakes. The outlines of modern biology began to appear in the nineteenth century. The most important advance was Charles Darwin’s theories on the origin of species and on the evolution and adaptations of plants and animals through natural selection. Direct field studies of migratory birds began in earnest at the end of the 1700s and in the 1800s. These studies consisted largely of registers that noted the time of the birds’ yearly arrival and departure. During the 1800s, the observations from different countries were co-ordinated so that the birds’ migration paths could be mapped. In order to administer the exchange of information, several ornithological unions and journals were founded. The first international ornithological congress assembled in Vienna in 1884, with the expressed purpose of being a co-ordinating forum for the mapping of the migration of birds. The ringing method of tracking birds by attaching a special ring to their leg was introduced at the turn of the last century by the Danish schoolmaster Hans Mortensen. A couple of decades later, the system of observation and counting of passing birds at particular sites was extensively introduced. Investigations into the orientation capabilities of birds, with emphasis on the roles of the sun and the stars, gathered momentum in the 1950s. The use of radar to follow bird migration across vast areas and at the highest altitudes, as well as the exploration of the birds’ sensory world and their built-in magnetic compass, are only about 35 and 25 years old, respectively. The use of satellite and radio tracking technologies were developed only recently. Microchip technology and nanotechnology, facilitating the increased use of existing technology by making equipment smaller, are perhaps part of the future of bird life studies. Since the Renaissance, we have embarked upon an earnest revival of a new age of seeking knowledge on an international level ... Knowledge, not only for practical use but also for its own sake, in order to satisfy man’s interest and imagination. Man cannot keep pace with the birds whose natural speed and grace are reliant upon their wings for flight, but his thoughts and dreams can easily fly along with them. Perhaps that is the reason why birds and the science of ornithology attract the interest, admiration and wonder of mankind to such a great degree. We study migratory birds because they awaken our imagination and our natural interest in their lives and, especially, their journeys across oceans and continents with remarkable adaptations in the pursuit of finding a place on earth. In our quest for this knowledge, we must, however, remind ourselves of the adage that, in essence, says information, knowledge and wisdom are easily distinguishable and not synonymous. We must make an effort to achieve all three and then use each one with care. Let Us Celebrate!
Birds are living descendants of the dinosaurs. In 1861 a series of fossils were found in limestone beds in Germany that provided direct evidence of the relationship between dinosaurs and birds. The fossilized creature, named Archaeopteryx, lived 150 million years ago and it was very bird-like in appearance, with well developed feathers that were just like those of a modern bird, and yet still had many reptilian features such as teeth in its jaws and a long, flexible, bony tail.
Fifteen years ago, the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church, His Holiness Bartholomew, selected the 1st of September of every year to be the date of prayer for the protection of the environment. This decision inspired us to create an annual festival on Tilos to celebrate nature and all of its creatures, great and small. We are planning to inaugurate our festival in 2006 with a special religious service for the blessing of the animals. The festival will include art exhibits and other cultural activities, culinary feasts, agricultural produce competitions, bird watching competitions, and much more. Plan your visit to Tilos in September 2006 and bring your feathered or furry member of the family with you for a unique religious and cultural experience. We are planning to invite His Holiness Bartholomew to inaugurate our Festival and we will issue a formal petition to the European Parliament requesting the selection of September 1st of every year to be a day of celebration of nature and the environment.
The Board of Directors of the Tilos Park Association in its February 1, 2005, meeting approved a proposal that was put forward by the Director of our Association to create a Committee that will organize an annual festival on Tilos for the celebration of nature and the environment.
Nature is Calling
Please, consider becoming a Member of the Tilos Park Association. Your membership will add strength to our voice in the preservation of the natural heritage of Tilos.
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