Good morning, Newdists.
Caturday is here.
Diary bird: Superb Starling — Lamprotornis superbus
Distribution
Southeastern South Sudan, northeastern Uganda, southern Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya south to central Tanzania
Habitat
Open woodland, including very arid country; also lakeshore woodlands, cultivated areas and gardens, and around human habitation.
Diet
Diet chiefly insects; also berries and small fruits, and nectar from Agave.
Breeding
Cooperative breeder, most breeding pairs having helpers, majority of which are male offspring from previous broods; helpers contribute nesting material and feed young, but do not feed female on nest. Nest is a large domed structure with side entrance, made from twigs, lined with grass and sometimes feathers, placed 5-20 feet above ground, and usually well-protected by thorns. Lays four dark blue eggs, which the female incubates for 12–14 days. Chicks are fed by both parents and by the helpers until fledging at 17–25 days; young fed cooperatively by parents and helpers for 4–7 weeks after leaving nest. LINK
When Hank Williams wrote Your Cheatin' Heart, birds probably weren't on his mind.
But researchers have found evidence of what we might call "infidelity" in birds. Scientists in east Africa learned that female Superb Starlings often seem to have
"cheatin'" on their minds. Superb Starlings live in cooperative social groups, where subordinate, non-paired males help raise the chicks of established pairs. Females will "cheat" — or mate with subordinate males — when the females need help raising chicks, thus increasing the survival rates of those chicks. Learn more about this behavior in starlings. LINK
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Pie fights will be met with outrageous ridicule and insults. Trolls will be incinerated and served at the next group BBQ. As briquettes.
Maps! We Haz Maps!
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Longest train ride.
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Roman Empire at its peak.
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North American cryptids.
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North America, 92 million years ago.
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Lake Constance.
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