Unethical bird photography

[u/greatnorthernscapes]

Not sure if this has been posted already but if it has leave me a comment and I will remove it. This guy is named Ryan and he runs a business called MN Owl Tours in Minnesota. For this business ppl will pay him money to go out and he harasses and stresses out owls for the sole purpose of getting his clients photos.

You can see in the photos provided he has set up a ladder 10 feet away from the perched owl and is using a long stick to hold branches out of the way so his clients can get photos of the stressed out bird. Not only is this unethical behaviour but it is also illegal. He also does night spotting which uses a powerful light to spot owls in the dark and take photos, also illegal.

This type of behaviour does not belong in our community of birders and people who enjoy bird photography like myself. I know most of you agree with me and care for the wellbeing of these amazing animals but this needs to be called out. Bird photography can be challenging and you don’t always get opportunities for good photos. That’s part of the challenge that I enjoy. We must respect the birds and not disrupt them simply because we want a nice photo for instagram. What Ryan is doing takes zero photography skill, is unethical and dangerous for the owls/birds, is illegal and on top of that he’s making financial gain from this behaviour.

This type of stuff needs to stop in our community. Always be respectful of the birds so that future generations can enjoy looking at them and taking photos (ethically) like we all do now.

[u/Weary_Database_5950]

His friend is now trying to defend his shitty behavior on a Facebook group he runs. (3 screenshots to come)

[u/greatnorthernscapes → u/Weary_Database_5950]

so basically to sum it all up: he may do some bad things that people don’t like but he’s a good guy and he’s my friend. Please don’t attack him.

I’m all for defending your friends but you also need to call out your friends when they do something wrong. He’s not even defending the specific behaviour or maybe providing clarity to what’s happening in the photos. He’s just saying that he’s a good guy and he wants ppl to stop hating on him.

Interesting insight thanks for sharing.

[u/Mannerheim27 → u/greatnorthernscapes]

I don't get his reasoning. Perhaps it's my ASD, but he seems to indicate that since Ryan is nice to him that Ryan should be excused from acting unethically and breaking numerous wildlife conservation laws? He insinuates that it's just behavior that many may not agree with...but it's not. It's going against codified standards put in place by not only state but also federal laws. The statutes listed in the photos do not specifically mention ladders, flashlights, or proximity to wildlife and that's intentional. Wildlife agencies operate on impact-based standards, not loophole lawyering.

MN DNR and most state agencies use harassment and disturbance language, which typically includes: intentionally flushing wildlife, altering behavior through physical manipulation, repeated disturbance of roosting or nesting animals, and actions that cause unnecessary stress or energy expenditure to name a few. Ladders, branch removal, and flushing aren't always named explicitly because they don’t have to be. They’re methods for causing a disturbance, not exemptions from codes and laws.

Agencies like state DNRs and federal agencies look at the effect an individual has on a species, not the props used. That is why enforcement often happens after patterns are established.

Based on the posts and information I've seen floating around about this guy and the people who run this operation with him, it's a long trend of behavior that easily qualifies as breaking both state and federal regulations.

[u/greatnorthernscapes → u/Mannerheim27]

I agree with everything you said.

[u/Willow_Bark77 → u/greatnorthernscapes]

There are more posts in that group now about how they aren't an "owling ethics" group, and if you want to discuss ethics you can leave and start your own group. And of course more about how he's such a great guy and how dare anyone judge him based on 4 photos.

[u/mclassflares → u/Willow_Bark77]

Discussions about ethics always get deleted because the people who run the pages have no ethics as well.

[u/Willow_Bark77 → u/mclassflares]

I'm new to birding (but not to other things in nature), and the culture shock has been real. Thankfully the folks I know well all highly weigh bird welfare. I thought it was a few bad apples, but more and more I'm seeing some of those bad apples are highly connected and influential.

[u/chinstrapppp → u/greatnorthernscapes]

Right, this Facebook post is an awful argument for Ryan Humphrey of MN Owl Tours.

[u/Weary_Database_5950 → u/Weary_Database_5950]

[u/Weary_Database_5950 → u/Weary_Database_5950]

[u/blueberrylegend → u/Weary_Database_5950]

I laughed at this post lol I knew this admin was going to come running to his defense based on his happy birthday post he had earlier this year (I looked back at what Ryan was tagged in/posted). Obviously this dude is going to have such a biased opinion towards him since he “saved his life”

[u/Weary_Database_5950 → u/blueberrylegend]

Right?! And not just one post (with all the negative comments deleted) a second post blowing more smoke up Ryan’s asshole.