@pointy-bird - Tumblr Blog

Why they do that

i'm assuming it's a combination of trying to stay warm (emperor penguin dads do something similar!) and keeping watch for potential predators?

tylenol-milk-tranny-deactivated

Oh worm that makes sense

cristalplanetheart

zinjanthropusboisei

Obsessed with this actually

heedra

i think one thing that complicates ppls willingness to understand wild animal safety is that people often take the statement ‘this animal will kill you with no remorse’ as a morally-charged statement about that animal and will get defensive on that animals behalf, because they themselves are equating predatory behavior with ‘meanness’ and can’t imagine a situation in which an animal such as a bear or big cat could both be a delightful, fascinating animal with capacity for complex interactions with humans and also an animal who simply does not have the same social contracts or see any problem with killing an eating any other animal if it feels safe doing so to. i’ve said similar before on a broader post abt animal intelligence but like, if your appreciation for animals like bears and tigers is ruined by the idea that there’s nothing you can do to prevent a bear or tiger from seeing you as potential food (short of raising it in a way that would be extremely mentally damaging for the animal, lmao), then that’s problem with your own limits to compassion for animals lmao.

it’s wrong to equate an animals carnivory to it being ‘bad’ and its fair to point out how that’s been historically used to demonize animals like wolves but it’s no better to pretend an animal isn’t what it is for your own comfort.

kaijuno

Tantrum hole

typhlonectes

100s of Gannets Diving for Fish

These versatile birds thrive in the air and sea. With their six-foot long wingspan, gannets can hover, glide, soar and dive. With folded wings, they torpedo down to depths of 20 feet or more to snatch fish from the edges of the Faroe Islands shoal.

via: Nature on PBS

bunjywunjy

Hi do you have a post about roadrunners ?

somehow I haven’t talked about roadrunners before, but I’m sure gonna do it now!

roadrunners are ground-based speed demons most famous for condoning extreme explosives-based cartoon violence, but they’re also packing a really weird secret: these little guys are zygodactly!

which is a fancy word for: TWO TOES IN FRONT, TWO TOES IN BACK. their feet form an “x” shape when they’re laid out flat.

so why is this weird? well, zygodactyl animals tend to evolve that trait for a single purpose completely unrelated to running around real fast and going “beep beep” all the time: grip strength!

in birds, you’ll find zygodactyl toes on real foot-crushers like owls and ospreys, and perching birds like woodpeckers. it’s beyond strange to find them on a sprinting bird, since those extra toes on the back tend to get in the way more than anything else.

so what’s going on here?

easy! turns out that roadrunners evolved pretty recently, and they’re actually a type of cuckoo! cuckoos, for reference, are perching birds, and they all have those signature zygodactyl feet.

so the roadrunner’s toes situation is more of an evolutionary holdover than anything else, but it obviously works well enough for them to put one over on the cartoon coyotes, so their weird toes may stick around for some time to come.

trashzy-deactivated20211214

Red-necked Grebe

weirdbabybirds

Keas

by Lisa Hubbard

virtuallyinsane

todaysbird

a great blue heron affected by melanism. melanism is a genetic mutation where melanin is overproduced and darkens typical coloration. it isn’t known if it has negative effects on the animal; melanin is an important component in birds’ feathers, and birds who underproduce melanin suffer from weak feathers, so it is possible the mutation serves some benefits.