The counting compulsion:Why we shouldn't give short shrift to quantifying birds

摘要

"How many Peter?" Yossi Leshem asked of the flock of White Storks soaring over the heads of our ornithological tour group. It was the fifth day of our promotional tour of Israel hosted by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel. Yossi is asenior researcher in the zoology department at Tel Aviv University and the former CEO of SPNI."One hundred and thirty-two," I announced, pleased that out of the 40 or so ornithologists assembled, Yossi had gauged correctly that I could be counted upon to have quantified the birds in the migrating flock. Once a hawk counter, always a hawk counter.