Speaking of interesting articles, though substantially less invloved
then the "physiology of hearing," the April National Geographic has
a very small feature near the front (no page number) entitled, "Coot
parents favor most vivid chicks." The jist of which is that Canadian
researchers determined that it pays to be flashy (despite the risk
predation) if you're a baby coot. When the researchers trimmed the
bright orange plumage (which only lasts about three weeks) off half
the chicks in a brood, the parents would ignore the colorless half
and feed the others, but if the orange plumage was removed from all
the chicks, the parents would feed them all equally. Since, says the
article, coot parents can't support a whole brood (a third to half
die of starvation), the coloration may have evolved to give the
parents a direction or angle to make a choice. Or"...it paid to be
bright."
Fred Bird
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Fred Bird fredbird at Halcyon.com
Nancy Ashley nancyashley at Halcyon.com
1249 NE 92nd St. 206-526-5671 - v
Seattle 98115 206-5226557 - fax