C O N D O R
The California Condor, above, rely on their exceptional
vision to find an animal carcass. It has a very poor
sense of smell, unlike its cousin, the Turkey Vulture.
Vultures have both excellent vision as well as the
ability to smell decaying flesh up to twelve miles away.
The condor keeps tabs on the vultures in the area
and is tipped off by their behavior when they pick up
the scent of a carcass. The condor will follow their
descent to the food below and insist on its share
of the find.
B E A K
Every bird species has a beak shaped to best suit its diet.
A bird with a bill to crack nuts is going to have a beak
that crushes like a pair of pliers while an eagle or hawk
has a sharp, hooked beak that cuts and shreds food
into fork and knife-sized bites. A nectar feeder has a
bill shaped like a straw.
The shape of a bird's bill reveals the animal's lifestyle.
B L I N K
You are busy flying here and there when, suddenly,
something flies into your eye. You have no hands
to rub your eye and you cannot afford to fly blinded,
even for a moment. What you need is a see-through
eyelid that will not only sweep aside bothersome debris
but will also provide for your everyday blinking needs.
Your normal, outermost eyelid is used only to
lower the blinds for sleeping.
C H I C K S
Naked young ones in their nest, blind and helpless.
They know just enough to open their mouths wide
when a parent hops onto the rim of the nest.
Dinnertime. It takes about a month of intense,
parental care before these nestlings become
somewhat independent. These are songbirds.
They nest in trees, safe from the grasp of many
predators that roam the ground below.
The nest of a duck hugs the ground.
Same with geese and chickens.
Their young ones are covered in down feathers
the moment they hatch. Their eyes work fine
and they can run about almost from the moment
they break free of their egg. This is no time to
dawdle. Getting free from the nest is a
matter of survival. Hence, the precocious young.
C U C K O O
The cuckoo mom slips into a warbler's nest,
kicks out one of the original eggs and lays
one of its own in its place. It then quickly
flies away, undetected. This all occurs
in under ten seconds. The result is another
species of bird dutifully raises the cuckoo
while cuckoo mom and dad go about their life.
This parasitic strategy is used by bird species
that are always on the move, unable to take
time to build a nest and raise a family.
Meanwhile the cuckoo has grown into a monster,
pushing the other nestlings from their home,
demanding one hundred percent of the food
mom and dad can provide. For the next three
weeks Baby Huey will drive its warbler parents
to exhaustion, always demanding more food.
More food.
P E A C O C K
Peahens find it hard to resist peacocks sporting
a tail that is of exaggerated length. Things get
real interesting when Tex fans his rhinestone feathers
at the ladies. Business is good but risky.
The problem is getting all this ornamental paraphernalia
off the ground when a hungry predator thunders into view.
This huge tail trait is detrimental to the animal's survival.
The Fisherian Runaway is the term given this
trait that self-perpetuates a looping genetic quirk.
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OVER EASY
