Evolutionary Biology - Stereotyping Birds

Scientists are using birds to create a new stereotype - loser female birds prefer loser male birds. How interesting! They're like ugly people who know that they shouldn't try to date the popular kids. (That's sarcasm, if it's not obvious)

A study recently came out about Zebra finches. You can read about it here and here. First assumption: chicks raised in a large brood are low quality because they have to compete for limited resources. Chicks raised in a small brood are high quality. So get this, they claim that the low-quality chicks differ from the high-quality chicks in metabolism, longevity, and attractiveness. In addition, low-quality male zebra finches have a low-quality song. What?!

They trained the female zebra finches to press a button to activate a male zebra finch song. They could hear either a high-quality song or a low-quality song. The low-quality females preferred the low-quality song. In addition, when a low-quality female was paired with a low-quality male, they produced eggs faster than mixing high-quality and low-quality birds. So you see? Loser females know to stick to their own kind.

The New Scientist article has the most ridiculous statement. "When a low-quality female did mate with a high-quality partner, her eggs were larger. The authors reckon this is because the female knows she is doing better than she deserves and will invest more nutrients into the eggs she lays." WHAT?! So these loser females are usually smart enough to stay with their own kind, but IF she's lucky enough to mate with the captain of the football team, she will take care of herself for the sake of her high-quality offspring? That is absurd.

Perhaps this explains why the low-quality pairs produced eggs faster. Larger eggs would take longer to produce, no?

The leaps required to reach these conclusions are enormous. The scientists were way too eager to come up with a conclusion that could be applied to humans. To be fair, it's possible that the journalists warped the findings to make a more interesting story. Either way, I'm very annoyed that this story is receiving so much attention.

Kakapo video

Fortunately, Audrey only uses his giraffe and not humans.

Here is a link about the people making the documentary.

Cross Stitch Project

Almost two years ago I took up cross stitching as a hobby. My first project came from a kit for a pillow. Below is the cross stitched part.

I really like the pattern because, duh, they're birds and because it's similar to M.C. Esher in that the bird wings mesh together. It didn't take too long for me to finish the stitching, but I waited a year and a half to make the pillow. I was worried I would mess that part up because I have no idea how to sew.

But it wasn't difficult. I put a backing behind the cross-stitch layer so that it would lie flat. Then I sewed green cloth to the cross-stitch layer, making sure that the cross-stitch side was facing the inside.

Next I turned the fabric inside out and stuffed the pillow with fiberfill batting. Voila!

Looks pretty nice on the couch!

Sunsets

One of the best things about living on the West Coast, is the sunsets. These were all taken from the same place at different times of the year.

Keyword Search

I've been using Google analytics to track the popularity of this blog. One of the features allows you to see keywords that people used to reach the blog.

• Whoever reached this blog by using the keywords "cockatiel beak turns black," we need to talk. If you're still reading the blog, please ask questions in the comments section.

• Whoever reached this blog by using the keywords "cockatiel obsessed with having his head scratched," you've come to the right place.

Banana Slugs

I love banana slugs. I had never seen a banana slug until I came to California and the first time I saw one, I thought someone had discarded a pepper. Now I'm obsessed. They are bright yellow. You can see here that they move around on a single muscular foot. They are the second largest slug in the world (they grow up to 9 inches).

In the second picture you can see that they have two pairs of tentacles. I was taking pictures of this guy and discovered after moving some twigs to get a better shot, that its tentacles can recede into their body. They came back out after a few minutes.

In 1986, UC Santa Cruz officially adopted the banana slug as their mascot. According to the UC Santa Cruz website, the banana slug is their mascot because banana slugs embody their view that all people should participate in sports and the focus of the game is not being the best. I like to think the banana slug is their mascot because they recognize how awesome banana slugs are. I mean, they are yellow and they move by exuding slime! What else needs to be said?

Banana slugs secrete slime when they move. The slime is supposedly difficult to remove, so don't touch them. They exude tons of slime when they're mating. Looks how shiny they are in this picture! They deposit their eggs in leaves and wood. They mate year round, so hopefully I can always post pictures of banana slugs!