|
Sheep-Goats posted:Their eyes are on the side of their head so to fix distances they have to move their heads around. They do it quickly so the things they're thinking about haven't moved much in between images so they can get a better idea of how close or how far something is. They keep doing it to stay updated. A content or focused or moving birdie doesn't do that any more for the obvious reasons. Basically, yeah. It's about depth perception, which only occurs in a much narrow portion of the vision for animals with eyes on the side of their heads, which are mostly prey animals. The eye placement means they can see more things at once, but sacrifice some of that binocular vision. Animals with eyes on the front of the head (mostly predators, like cats and humans) have better binocular vision, but have to move their heads to see more of what is surrounding them. If I recall correctly it's also something to do with birds seeing more frames per second, so to speak, with their eyes, so they can get more information from a shorter glance, where a human would have to stare at it for a bit longer to take it in. Basically a film that a regular human sees as being a single moving image will appear to many birds as a series of still images. I know it's been studied in pigeons specifically (pigeons can actually do a lot of cool poo poo to do with visualising and mentally manipulating 2D and 3D objects) but I'm pretty sure it's a feature of other birds too. Also, the main idea for why birds are so good at navigation is agreed to be partly to do with magnetoceptors, at least in some birds. Flying birds (again, like pigeons) can use landmarks, but even in the dark or at night or over very long distances they can find magnetic north. Ground-dwelling birds that roam over a great area of land, like chickens, can do it too. Another theory was that they used the sun to navigate (and were somehow able to see it through clouds on cloudy days, and gently caress trying to get a chicken to do ANYTHING at night so it was hard to test if they could navigate well at night). But then some scientists tried sticking birds that might have used this technique in an enclosed setting and they were still able to do it... Until they put them in an enclosure where they hosed with the magnetic fields, and lo and behold all the birbs got lost and confused. And (again if I'm remembering it right) if you hosed with the enclosure so it thought north was south and vice versa, suddenly all the birbs would start trying to navigate very confidently in reverse. (This was with migratory birbs if I'm remembering correctly.) Sticking birbs in test rooms and loving with them was also how it was confirmed that a bunch of little cave birbs called oilbirds did in fact use echolocation for navigation in the dark, and not just really really really good eyes like owls. ahhhhh I love birb science Most of these are covered in one way or another in Bird Sense by Tim Birkhead and other "What are birds? We just don't know" books, which is my favourite genre of books.
|
#
¿
Oct 8, 2015 02:55
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 2, 2024 11:08 |
|
|
Seriously homing pigeons are amazing, my neighbour Back Home has a bunch of pigeons and he takes them to uhhh Rockhampton?? and lets them fly back home, either way about 5 hour's drive away from their home, and they get back home safe and sound all on their own. And they come when he calls them and go into their carrying cages on command and some of them even answer to their names. They are trained better than some dogs I know. It is pretty impressive for something with a brain the size of a small peanut.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 8, 2015 03:00
|
|
|
Improbable Lobster posted:
My dad's sparrow (  ) loved doing that. Squeezing behind wardrobes and even under the fridge once  And then she'd forget how to get out (because sparrow) and we'd have to poke her out with a ruler.Fucken birbs
|
|
#
¿
Oct 8, 2015 03:52
|
|
|
Frog Act posted:this thread is fantastic but now youtube thinks i'm some kind of extreme bird fan I am not seeing the problem here TBH Better than it thinking I like ASMR now at any rate 
|
|
#
¿
Oct 8, 2015 04:28
|
|
|
I always love the little burble his hens give him at the end. "Yes Rodney, we all heard you. Very good. You keep doing your thing."
|
|
#
¿
Oct 12, 2015 04:22
|
|
|
Me IRL
|
|
#
¿
Oct 13, 2015 04:06
|
|
|
Moon Potato posted:Potoos are the most muppety of birds. Frogmouths are next in line.  A frogmouth and a shiny frogmouth!  This is what they look like when they're stealthing. (Bonus baby frogmouth.)  Can't remember what this is. Maybe a baby potoo? It's a good reaction.jpg birb anyhow. e: nah it's a completely different hawk owl baby or something e2: and here's a classic potoo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM98Vencdwo CROWS EVERYWHERE fucked around with this message at 07:31 on Oct 14, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Oct 14, 2015 07:29
|
|
|
Here's some hosed up pigeons I used for a powerpoint I did on On the Origin of Species. Darwin posted:The pouter has a much elongated body, wings, and legs; and its enormously developed crop, which it glories in inflating, may well excite astonishment and even laughter.  Darwin posted:The barb is allied to the carrier, but, instead of a very long beak, has a very short and very broad one. wonderful development of the carunculated skin about the head ... accompanied by greatly elongated eyelids, very large external orifices to the nostrils, and a wide gape of the mouth  Darwin posted:The turbit has a very short and conical beak, with a line of reversed feathers down the breast; and it has the habit of continually expanding slightly the upper part of the oesophagus.  No quotes for this one, it's just a regular fantailed pigeon. Pouter pigeons are majestic to watch in motion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op9qGrCx9pI
|
|
#
¿
Oct 14, 2015 07:36
|
|
|
QUEEN CAUCUS posted:makes you wonder what hosed up weird bird poo poo ancient therapods had going on. Brightly colored cartilage combs? Weirdly intricate vocal performances and dancing? Elaborate spreading feather displays? Giant inflating neck sacks? They'd probably be as hosed up as cassowaries and peacocks and that one angry loving dinosaur-looking grey African bird whose name I can't remember and lyrebirds and parrots, combined with how hosed up a bunch of lizzards are. But probably not as hosed up as those pigeons, because those are ones we've specifically bred to be hosed up and weird and wouldn't survive very long in the wild. If we managed to breed dinos etc in captivity we'd absolutely be able to get them that hosed up though. I 100% believe dinos etc had giant loving multicoloured crests and fleshy combs/wattles, frills and quills they can stick up to look big, inflatable air pouches/crops, sweet-rear end sexy feathers, and singing/dancing for courtship displays. It's my personal headcanon that raptors knew how to imitate speech. "*squeak* Who's a clever girl? *whistle*" I will believe this until we resurrect velociraptors and it's proven incorrect. (Also I will get a velociraptor pet, so tiny )They also did this while chasing down puny human ancestors (shrews or whatever): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE8PTMSFMUg
|
|
#
¿
Oct 14, 2015 08:19
|
|
|
Oh also talking about dinobirds: WE CAN'T PROVE THEY WEREN'T HUGE FATBIRDS    
|
|
#
¿
Oct 14, 2015 08:22
|
|
|
Monkey Fracas posted:I like how they have to close their big goofy eyes when they'e trying to hide When they are trying to watch something while also stealthing they open one eye (sometimes both, but usually just one) juuuuuuust a tiny bit and veryyyyyyyyyy slowly follow you with that eye as you move. They know their big goofy eyes will give them away and are very sneaky!
|
|
#
¿
Oct 15, 2015 04:46
|
|
|
Neurolimal posted:Monkeys are diseased hostile animals in general. I'd rather be in a room with a wild gorilla than a wild monkey. The sad thing about this is that bonobos are only free-love hippies who gently caress everyone as a way of saying "hi" in areas with abundant resources and few natural predators. In areas where they have to compete for resources more they are absolute dickheads like all great apes (and like chimpanzees especially)  Primates are fukt.Birds meanwhile are always lovely and friendly and kind and giving. It is just that *screaming* and biting your ears off are actually signs of affection among birds.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 18, 2015 06:42
|
|
|
quote:Australian magpies have an incredible memory (as with all members of the Corvid family, they are very intelligent) Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa loving incompetent loving writer, Australian magpies aren't in the loving Corvid family. That's European magpies, which are a completely different loving species you useless twits. Don't just type "magpie" into Wikipedia next time you're researching Australian magpies. gently caress CROWS EVERYWHERE fucked around with this message at 11:31 on Oct 24, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Oct 24, 2015 11:28
|
|
|
Like what is it going to do next? The koala, like all members of the Ursidae family? The echidna, like all members of the Myrmecophagidae family? This is why I loving hate Wikihow
|
|
#
¿
Oct 24, 2015 11:30
|
|
|
Also the "stick eyes on the back of your hat/helmet" and "stick sticks in your helmet' DON'T WORK. An umbrella that's unfolded will shield you from maggies. A stick will do jack poo poo. Can't even properly defend against swooping maggies Mr Speaker
|
|
#
¿
Oct 24, 2015 11:34
|
|
|
I'm very passionate about birbs okay
|
|
#
¿
Oct 24, 2015 11:42
|
|
|
Angela Christine posted:You must have had girls. Boys love to drag their dicks around marking their territory. Rats too. I owned only boy rats and I can confirm that they are chill as gently caress, never stop cleaning themselves, and wee everywhere.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 24, 2015 12:13
|
|
|
Maggies usually hang out in family groups of the parents, a grownup kid or two, and the current babies (which have a mottled grey pattern). The grownup kids are usually from last year's hatching and help to raise their new baby siblings. Magpies find worms and witchetty grubs by listening to the ground and digging them up. They also like stealing human food, dog food, chook food, etc. They're not really interested in shiny stuff like European magpies (which like shiny things like all corvids). When they're babies they enjoy play fighting with each other e: here are some pics for top o' the page  parent magpie  young magpie (and a bunch of poop) preparing to eat all the chook food  These are happy jacks, also known as apostlebirds, CWA birds, happy families, etc. They hang out in big family groups, usually one breeding pair, their relatives, and a couple of babies. All of the adults work together to help find food for the babies. In that picture, there is one baby who is being fed by a relative. (The adult bird is sticking its head into the baby's mouth.) They are VERY LOUD and also very smart. They like humans and enjoy playing with and teasing them. Games I have seen them playing include swinging around on branches (going upside down and back up again in a circle), playing "bird soccer" with macadamia nuts still in their shell, and biting parrots on the bottom. They're smart enough to know that hoses only work when humans are around and the difference between a stick and a gun. When they're looking for grass seeds, they all get together and walk in a line like people in a search party. CROWS EVERYWHERE fucked around with this message at 13:31 on Oct 24, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Oct 24, 2015 13:20
|
|
|
I liked the bit where he started doing all the laughs he knew, and then... the laughing... intensified...  Max is best when he's being a creepy little warlockatoo.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 30, 2015 12:18
|
|
|
Atal Vataman posted:birds: I thought this was a cute picture of a bunch of parrots picking on a beleaguered owl, but then I looked up what bird lime is  They're not going "lol" "ayy lmao" "u suck", they're going "no" "halp" "im die "
|
|
#
¿
Nov 11, 2015 07:54
|
|
|
A Stupid Baby posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YvyXu7coXA It's the flat white faces and big blank black eyes, I think, plus the weird >: D smile they have going on with their beaks. Plus they're always kind of hunched over and poo poo. They're basically horror movie monsters, only cuter and fluffier.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 11, 2015 14:44
|
|
|
Jukeboxblues posted:lmao listen to this loving seal hahaha GREG GREG AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA GREG
|
|
#
¿
Nov 20, 2015 13:24
|
|
|
Moon Potato posted:His bitterns look way too dignified. To fully appreciate that bird, you have to see it being the bizarre, stretchy muppet-heron that it is. E X T E N D B I R B
|
|
#
¿
Dec 9, 2015 02:30
|
|
|
E X T E N D B I R B
|
|
#
¿
Dec 14, 2015 08:16
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 2, 2024 11:08 |
|
|
EorayMel posted:A shoebill is a type of bird. Those are good birbs. They have two babies and for a while raise them both equally until they're sure one will survive, then they stop feeding or outright bird-murder the extra baby. I'm told kookaburras do the same, which is why they always look so happy. They certainly love eating baby birds.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 28, 2015 06:07
|
|
