November 2005
Monthly Archive
the bureaucratic separation of birds
Posted by squirrley on 30 Nov 2005 | Tagged as: home
The other day, Trapper walked up an icy, steep path, carrying a briefcase of bird carcasses. He knocked on a door and dropped them off, “birds that flew into windows”, now eligible to be stuffed and re-enter the system officially, as part of the College collection.
One of the complexities of governance in the Yukon is the bureaucratic separation of birds. Migratory birds are under federal jurisdiction, and because Canada has signed on to the international migratory bird convention, these birds are subject to special provisions and laws aimed at meeting the terms of the agreement. Non-migratory birds, like owls, are under territorial jurisdiction. If you find a dead owl, you can deal with it locally. If a migratory bird hits your window, you need a federal permit in order to possess it. The nearest place to get one is a few thousand km from here in Delta, BC.
Ah Linnaeus! How you have carved up our world into the careful parameters of species. Did you ever know your classifications would become enshrined this way? That the elaboration of species, their categorization and description, would flow so naturally into the apparatus of the state, the monopolizing and systematizing of information over large areas? Slotting everything into its classification and empire–even a creature free as a bird …