Morphologically birds seem to come in two types: the ones with long bodies and long beaks that gives them a predatory cast - not to mention the ones with aquiline bills that are overtly predatory of appearance - and birds such as these here that are small, juvenile of aspect, small-bodied, puffy chested, with tiny bills, cute, and, of course, endearing.
We find that neoteny and its resultant paedomorphism - the retention of juvenile characteristics in the adult - is not just a feature of humans and axolotls but is also seen in birds. The most favored cage birds unfortunately are, in cruel irony, precisely these birds, their very cuteness the cause of their caging.
October 12, 2010, Sagar Nagar Beach, North Sector, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
