There have been so many unusual bird records recently I decided that I needed to formulate a rationale to explain their presence. What I discovered amazed me. We hear so much these days about rewilding but I was unaware that there are dozens of such projects in Devon and some are linked to captive breeding programs (CBPs). There have, of course, been such projects for a long time in our zoos where great care is taken to ensure the birds do not accidently escape. This is not always the case elsewhere. Look at what happened recently at Escot where two bears escaped making national news headlines. This came as no surprise following closely on the heels of a Red-billed Chough making a bid for freedom. It only takes a moment’s inattention!
There is no single reference point on the internet to tell us how just many CBPs there are in Devon but I have a list of 24 so far. Many of the web sites list what they are doing but this information is not always complete and there may well be far more CBPs than we could ever imagine. I suspect that what I have uncovered is just the tip of an iceberg as I know for certain that more birds are being bred than have been admitted and one such breeder has gained a bit of a reputation for releasing birds into the wild, some possibly inappropriately. This may sound as though I disapprove, but I don’t. If our political elite won’t take sufficient steps to mitigate habitat loss and species decline then we are lucky that some enlightened folk feel differently and carry out such valuable work.
The appearance of a Zebra Finch in the village is easily explained, as they can be bought on the internet for a tenner. The presence of Curlews is also perhaps easily explained by the release of over 100 birds over recent years from a site on Dartmoor. CBPs near Tiverton and at Coombeshead have released 20 White Storks this year and 50 Turtle Doves have also been released from Coombeshead.
