Birds
No Nest Photography
Category: Aquatic Birds
Why Nesting Pics Are Banned on IB?
PUBLIC
Nesting shots look beautiful. They attract viewer's attention. They are comparatively easy to shoot, once you know the nest location. So a ban on nesting images may look unfair to some. It is indeed unfair to photographers who are robbed of a chance to showcase their talent. But to the birds, it is lease of life itself!
Nesting is the most critical time in a bird's life. Right from the nest-building activity up to the time when their offspring have left the nest for good, the birds are quite sensitive to intrusions. Birds are known to abandon their nests & eggs if they feel threatened. Shooting nesting images can reveal the nest's camouflaged location or lead predators to the nest.
Therefore shooting a nest picture is fraught with danger for the birds. Publishing a nest picture is even more trouble for the poor birds because many others can get 'motivated' to shoot such nice image! Even if the photographer does not reveal location of the nest while publishing the image, some local photographers can always guess it. You are not the only birder in your town, are you?
I Have Taken Precautions!
We see some photographers argue that they have taken sufficient precautions while shooting a nesting image. That they have used covers & hides, have kept safe distance, they did not harm the birds or their surroundings. We of course respect their claims, but do not have the means to verify any of such claims. At least some percentage of such claims are likely to be false. The photographer may have caused harm either knowingly or unknowingly. Therefore we have no alternative but to ban all nesting images without prejudice to the photographer's integrity and expertise.
When in Doubt...
Sometimes, it may not be crystal clear from an image whether it is a nesting pic or not. The photographer claims it is not, but other experienced birders think it might be a nesting pic. The bird should always get benefit of doubt in such cases. The photographer can click thousand other images and post them on any forum. Photographer won't lose much even if he/she removes one image. But the bird stands to lose a lot if it is a nesting site.
So the photographer will not lose much if he/she willingly removes such doubtful image from the forum, if it is suspected of being a nesting image. On the contrary the member will earn respect from a sincere community of birders. The community will be thankful to him/her for not putting his/her ego before the birds' welfare.
So We Delete...
In cases where the member fails to remove such image due to any reason, the admins may decide to delete it from the forum. Such deletion should not be taken as admin's disapproval of claims (of precaution or of the pic being not a nesting) made by the member. The image may be deleted simply to err on side of birds' welfare, rather than a jmember's right of posting content. The deletion is not a comment on integrity & expertise of the member.
- copy from Google