The Bird League

My Father was born and raised in Australia and despite spending most of his adult life in Godzone, was always labelled as an 'Aussie.' During a recent visit, my Aussie Aunty mentioned that she had recently unearthed a certificate that identified my father as a member of the Gould League of Bird Lovers. A tiny amount of research revealed that this environmental education organisation still functions and actively recruited members from Australian schools during the 1930's.

I wondered whether it was peer pressure or simply the attraction of the collectible badges that made my Father sign up. Whatever his motives might have been, I was certain that his conscience must have bothered him as he made his joining pledge.  The membership drive was intended to protect native bird species by discouraging a very popular boys pastime during the 1930's; my Aunt reported that despite his enrollment, my father and his elder brother were not dissuaded from climbing trees and raiding nests in order to enlarge their extensive collection of birds eggs.

It is easy for a New Zealander to understand how the mania could have taken hold.  Australian native birds are inescapable, they are numerous, large, colorful and noisy (often all at the same time).
The majority are utterly charming; who couldn't love a multicolored parrot? Flocks of pink and grey Galahs' forage  along the roadsides while smaller green and red Lorikeets feed in the tree tops.
Other species are more boisterous than conspicuous: Cockatoos cluster and screech, Magpies warble and the ever present Crows obscenely caw "Fa-ark, Fa-ark."
Away from the urban centers the bird life gets even better; Pelicans, Ibis and even the occasional magnificent Sea Eagle can be seen in rural areas.

The inevitable comparisons between New Zealand and Australian bird life must be drawn.  Australian native birds are an inescapable feature of urban life.  Sadly the same thing cannot be said of New Zealand.
It is perfectly possible to go about your daily activities in any major New Zealand city without encountering any native birds whatsoever.  The common urban bird species that you will encounter were introduced from Britain during the nineteenth century; competition and predation has forced many of our native birds species to retreat to pockets of native bush and predator free sanctuaries.
While  most New Zealanders will have encountered Fantails, Wood Pigeons, Tui and perhaps the occasional Bell bird - how many native species could the average Aussie name?

While barefoot Australian boys in the 1930's were being persuaded to protect bird life, fifty years earlier, New Zealand boys were being recruited into 'Sparrow clubs' which rewarded the collection of  Sparrow eggs in an attempt to curb a damaging population explosion of this introduced species.
 
As a consequence of the smell generated by rotting partially 'blown' eggs, my father's precious egg collection was stored beneath the house. One day my Grandmother (who was born in New Zealand) amused herself by dipping one half of a very large hen's egg in cold tea.  She presented this strange specimen to her sons, telling them that it was a Kiwi egg.  They never thought to question its authenticity and carefully (and boastfully) placed it among their collection.  Within days the precious 'Kiwi egg' was stolen by a rival gang of boys from a neighboring suburb.

The lesson learned?  - its the scarcity of New Zealand's native birds that makes them so precious.