Friday, October 22, 2004

Friday's Bird Blogging



I love birds. Some time ago I left a window open in my study, and a bird flew in carrying in its beak a lens arrangement for a camera. I kid you not. After a while the bird left through the window (safely), but I still have the lens circle. It may be a message from some higher-up divinities. Too bad I can't decipher it.

In other birdy news, a fossil of an ancient bird was found in China quite recently. The chick died right before hatching, and the fossil shows evidence of formidable claws and feathers. Today's songbirds are not born with feathers, and the theory is that the kinds of birds who take care of their young are a later evolutionary developments. The prehistoric birds were all grown-up once they were hatched and able to take care of themselves. I bet many parents would argue that evolution got this one backwards.

Prehistoric birds probably also couldn't imitate an alarm clock. I had a mocking bird or something similar do that to me at all sorts of odd hours of the day and night. It was my alarm clock sound, so the confusion was considerable. I bet the bird enjoyed it all.