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Bird on Cam Worth Two in Bush
At least to those able to break away from the computer's grip.
One million viewers tuned in to the CBC's Falcon Cam.
The CBC's Falcon Cam proves surveillance really is for the birds. Last week, the broadcaster announced that its online camera feed showcasing the lives of a family of Peregrine Falcons in Winnipeg had now surpassed one million page views, becoming one of the most popular on its website.
The CBC's Falcon Cam is just one of the many sites devoted to ogling animals online; at first, with just one channel option available, the Falcon Cam seems rather uncompelling. Many zoos now feature webcams: the Smithsonian's National Zoological Park website offers the choice of 20 webcams, including the strange and obscure Sloth Bear Cam, Black-footed Ferret Cam and the Naked Mole-Rat Cam.
Nonetheless, there's a certain charm to CBC's Falcon Cam and its view of birds in "the wild" -- even if "the wild" is just the bird's concrete hotel rooftop nest. Watching grainy black and white footage of caged animals (or their empty pens) on the zoo sites, where the animals are unable to hide from the unblinking eye of the camera, feels more cruelly voyeuristic than watching CBC Winnipeg's fine feathered family.
Filming animals in their natural habitats isn't new -- David Suzuki's The Nature of Things and Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom were doing it decades ago -- but this latest trend towards wildlife voyeurism appears to bring reality TV full circle. Unlike earlier television shows that offered audiences a half hour of edited and slickly produced footage of critters in the wild, animal webcams provide unprecedented 24-hour access to our favourite fuzzy friends.
Yet, with summer upon us and wildlife just beyond our front doors, it seems both incredible and a little disappointing that a million viewers prefer to do their sightseeing from behind a computer screen instead of actually going outside -- but hey, with the three Peregrine chicks a good bet to be banding this week, who can really resist? Happy viewing!
Related Tyee stories:
- Some Videos Aren't This Good
VIDEO: Those that aren't teach us the reality of online life: the Net never forgets. - 'Trimming the Bush to Make the Tree Look Taller'
How razor companies are exploiting male insecurities online to push product. - I'll Be Watching You
The new video vigilantes expose injustice for all to see.
![[Tyee]](http://thetyee.cachefly.net/ui/img/ico_fishie.png){kind=small}
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- ...while on the streets, pirates and ninjas put aside mutual animosity to join student protests
5
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Fiat lux
2 years ago
Meanwhile, what happened to
Meanwhile, what happened to our swallows? They've been disappearing all over Canada.
Years ago we used to have hundreds of several varieties literally filling the sky, feeding on our flood of mosquitoes. Now, we can only see one, or two.
I've built about a dozen nesting boxes for the tree swallows and for years they were fighting for them. About 3-4 years ago, when I emptied the boxes, they were all laid with hay for nesting, lined with feathers, but not one of them was used after that.
Last year, 2 or 3 had hay and feathers, but no sign of any hatching.
This year we may have one box being used, but we have no barn, or cliff swallows at all, anywhere.
Something must be killing them off. Anybody knows what's going on ?
Ed Deak.
jwstewart
2 years ago
Good question Ed...
It might be something worth investigating.
Causes could be natural..
Loss of food source.
Increase in predation
Disease
Usually this would correspond with a increase.decrease in something else.
Lack of mosquitos?
Explosion of falcon population
bird flu?
Maybe related to the reported collapse in bee populations ?
southdeltawalker
2 years ago
Nothing beats the real thing.
When i was young we had nature to go out and play in.
Today, especially the young have technology to play with.
Most do not notice the natural world is disappearing.
When the birds are gone, bird cam can be replaced with computer generated images.
Who'll care?
My technology? I just have this old almost broken computer.
Do i have an i-phone,blackberry etc?
No-i have binoculars to watch the local eagle nest complete with two young ones.
Do i see any parents with children also viewing? No.
They're all watching bird cam.
Fiat lux
2 years ago
JW.....No rational reason
JW.....No rational reason applies here. We have mosquitoes clouding the sky, the predator birds, like hawks and eagles we have around here have never been any problem for swallows. Not even the crows can touch them.
The most worrisome was when I found all the nests prepared, but not a single egg, or signs of hatchings.
The disappearance of the swallows is a Canada wide problem, mentioned in magazines across the country, yet I've never heard of any official, or scientific sources mention, or question it.
Ed Deak.
jwstewart
2 years ago
E - look here if you haven't already
There appears to be an ongoing survey of bid populations and trends...
http://www.cws-scf.ec.gc.ca/nwrc-cnrf/default.asp?lang=En&n=416B57CA