Ethnoornithology – The Northern Myth

Tag Archives: Ethnoornithology

Towards an (Australian) Indigenous Ornithology – Is Australia an ornithological terra nullius?

November 22, 2008 – 4:36 pm

Australia is an ornithological terra nullius – an ‘empty land’ – It is unforgivable that the most complete references to Australian Aboriginal ornithology are found in John Gould’s Handbook to the Birds of Australia, 1865 – published 138 years ago.

By Bob Gosford | Posted in Birds, Birds and people, Ethnoornithology, Indigenous land management | Also tagged Birds & people, Mabo's case, mainstream science, terra nullius | Comments (2)

The Sooty Shearwater (Puffinus griseus) – a lesson in indigenous bird hunting and conservation

November 19, 2008 – 2:40 pm

For too long, western scientists have either willfully ignored indigenous knowledge of Australia’s birds or damned it as ‘unscientific’. How we access and record what people know of and how they use birds, and the value of indigenous bird knowledge are important tools for species and landscape management.