We
all know that some birds look spectacular. And we all know that some sing like angels.
But did you know that the two usually don’t go together?
Beautifully coloured birds with ostentatious feathery outfits can’t sing worth shit, while small brown jobbies that look like pointy spuds with wings sound wonderful. In short, the prettier the bird, the worse it sings. This is partly intuitive I suppose but now it’s been proven by an in-depth study from the University of Oxford.
I saw one of these once at a garbage dump near
our cabin. Biggest, dopiest fly I’ve ever seen. It flew slowly round and round
in circles and tried to land on me but missed my arm and smacked into a wall.
Not the smartest of flies.
Will you look after my eggs?
I took a photo of MegaFly because I’d never seen anything like it before in BC. It was close to an inch long and jet black with a fetching steel blue iridescence and massive eyes.
A ten minute search on the internet webpipes threw up the name Wood Rat Botfly. This particular fly leads a charming life, leaving its maggots to feast on live host animals, usually rodents. I’ll let the website bugwood.org explain…
Life History and Habits: Rodent and rabbit bot
flies develop as parasites of mammals. Adult flies lay their eggs near the
entrance of rabbit or rodent burrows or runways and other sites frequented by
their animal hosts. The eggs hatch in response to the warmth of a potential
host and the maggots enter natural openings, such as the nose or mouth. Initial
development usually occurs at these areas but later migrate. Ultimately they
settle under the skin in sites typical of the species (neck, abdomen) and as
they grow they appear as large swellings known as warbles.
The rats and squirrels often die from the ironically
named warbles.
If you’re really really curious, the gorey details are captured in glorious technicolour here. But I wouldn’t recommend clicking the link just before supper or bedtime for that matter.
So now you know. Stay away from garbage dumps
near Pemberton and you won’t get maggots.
The header should
really say “Crows Can Count-ish.” Or they can at least tell when one group of
objects has more objects than another group of objects, if you see what I mean.
This according to an interesting blog post from Scientific American which begins onimously:
“Crows hold a somewhat eerie status in our folklore. Perhaps inspired by their black plumage and coarse caws, stories and legends depict these birds as ominous creatures, messengers between the realms of the living and the dead, harbingers of death and misery. Crossing paths with a crow can be an unsettling experience, not least because it feels as though these highly attentive birds are scrutinizing us with their deep, penetrating gaze.”
I promise to count to 10 if you don’t stick wires in my head. Photo from Scientific American
The post dispassionately sums up the findings of a series of experiments where scientists stuck wires into crows’ heads and made them do counting-related stuff. It’s all about the Corvids’ ability to compare quantities. “I’ve got more cheese than you” kind of stuff presumably. How on earth a crow can do anything, let alone count, with wires stuck in its head while rotting in a lab beats me.
A recent
scientific survey carried out in my back yard focused on Corvid food
preferences. What foods do crows find uber tasty? The carefully designed experiment
consisted of randomly throwing different foods onto our lawn and seeing what my
crow buddies went for first. Bottom of the list: peanuts. They eat them if they’re
there but given the choice between peanuts and dog kibble, the kibble goes
first. Close to the top of the pile is any form of meat protein or raw fat – chicken,
beef fat, bacon, chicken skin etc. But I suspect that what they really like best is a nice bit of
cheese. Rather than stuff it into their crops to stash away somewhere for later,
they’ll happily munch away on any cheese. No stashing that stuff.
In a recent survey, 9 out of 10 crows said they prefer cheese
Pouring with rain, 2 of my 3 regular visiting crows -moulting and looking particularly ratty- perched on the back deck waiting for a few peanuts. They get my attention with a low rolling clicking call. There were only 2 for the longest time but recently a 3rd has been edging its way in to the social group. Hard to say if it’s related but it persisted and appears to have been accepted by the pair, BUT it feeds last.
A short on line search threw this up (which makes total sense given the context I’ve noticed): “One of the more commonly heard non-caw crow vocalizations is a series of low-pitched rattling sounds or clicks, rather like the sound of a ratchet being turned rapidly, or a higher volume version of the chittering of a squirrel. These calls sometimes appear to be addressed to humans. They are also made by juvenile crows during their rambling vocalizations, by courting crows, during mock and semi-serious crow “dog fights,” and at other times. The context for the use of rattle calls often is when a crow is interested in something or someone – crow, human or other animal – but uneasy about approaching it too closely.”
