The Dishonesty of Songbird Survival

I wonder how many have caught up with the ironically named charity Songbird Survival.  They purport to be a conservation charity whose main objective is protecting "songbirds" by slaughtering as many crows, magpies etc as possible. They would also be happy to see birds of prey lose their legal protection.

As a conservationist I would concede that predators sometimes have to be discouraged or even controlled.  This would be done as part of the strategic management of particular species and after proper scientific back-up had been established.

Now the truth about this charity is that all the Trustees are a section of the farming and shooting fraternity and some of them very wealthy landowners. Not long ago they paid the BTO for a piece of research which they hoped would lead to proof that predators were reducing smaller species of birds and not I presume modern farming practises.  When the research predictably did not give them the answer they wanted, they promptly ignored it.

Now they have the audacity to launch a public appeal for £88,000 to examine the effect of corvid removal on farmland bird populations.  I think there are quite a few of us who could enlighten them on the outcomes now.  I repeat when managing for target species at least initially some legal predator control can be helpful.

What is more galling is that the Trustees could easily afford to pay for this research without asking the public.

I accept that this charity are entitled to their views but what annoys me so much is their blatant dishonesty.  They are hiding behind the welfare of songbirds not just to cull corvids which is perfectly legal, more to get the protection for birds of prey removed so they can once again carry out removal of these impressive species in order that there are more introduced Pheasants for them to slaughter.

If they called themselves The Corvid & Raptor Removal Trust I would have more respect for them even if I did find their views ridiculous.