This One's for the Birds
This is going to be one of those gee-whiz entries, but I can’t help it — the news is aflutter with new discoveries about birds lately.
One group of scientists has found that birds can see a larger range of different colors than we can, due to the four color cone receptors in their eyes. We (sadly) only have three.
(As a side note: if you have never seen the Oatmeal cartoon on the peacock mantis shrimp – the gorgeous yet curiously irritable crustacean possessor of 16 color cone receptors – I highly recommend it.)
This discovery might explain these blingy creatures I was lucky enough to photograph in southern Africa:
European Bee Eaters (who look quite cross with each other, if you ask me)
Lilac-Breasted Roller (LBR)
LBRs seem too gorgeous to be commonplace, but they really do roll when they fly – it’s their trick for catching insects – and when driving around South Africa or Botswana we would frequently spot them rolling about, seeming to frolic through the air alongside our vehicle.
With their amazing plumage and playful antics, I think they were my spark bird – a bird that sparks your interest in watching birds. If you pay attention to the birds around you – if you are, in fact, a birder -- do you remember your spark bird?
The other bit of absolutely amazing bird news lately is – and make sure you’re sitting down for this one, it’s a humdinger – birds have some kind of bizarre “quantum sense” that scientists can measure.
I mean, personally, sometimes I’ll stand in front of my fridge for a full minute wondering why I’m there, and here are tiny birds with their little bird brains with some kind of quantum sense.
Apparently, “something about their visual system allows them to 'see' our planet's magnetic field, a clever trick of quantum physics, and biochemistry that helps them navigate vast distances.”
I hope this starts your week off on an inspired — or possibly just shaken — note. I know I’ll be looking at the the sparrows who come to my feeder with even more amazement than usual — as well as possibly some intimidation. :)
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