Hi Tweets,

Heh. Nothing like a good teaser to get 'em to read a post, I always say.

Actually, I'm tossing out the First Dumb Question of 1997. If birds have
higher internal temperatures than most critters, why don't we see their
breath steam on a cold day?

While standing in a line-up for an available ATM on Granville Island this
aft, I noticed an adult Glaucous-winged Gull (GWGU) on the rooftop above; it
was outlined against the shadowed underside of the Granville Street Bridge,
so in good contrast. Just standing there, no big deal. Another adult flies
overhead, the perched bird opens up with good round of possessive
'trumpeting' calls, and *for the first time in my life* I see a bird's
breath steaming on the cold damp air, and the question that's *never*
occurred to me before (duh!) arises.

Well, the line's not moving so lots of time to watch this and check it out.
While the bird's simply standing there breathing through its nose, its
breath is invisible (why?), but when another gull comes close and it begins
to bugle at the other bird, the condensation is visible. Clearly, there's
some physics at work here. Anyone?

M


Michael Price
Vancouver BC Canada When I found out that seven of my years
(604) 668-5073 vx was only one of theirs,
(604) 668-5028 fx I started biting absolutely everything.
mprice at mindlink.net
michael.price at istar.ca -Max Carlson (Ron Carlson's dog)