MayabirdPecking at the keyboardRegistered Userregular
I've talked about crazy bird names before. Here's one I recently encountered: the invisible rail.
Habroptila wallacii is a flightless rail, part a family of birds that aren't quite waterbirds but do prefer really damp places, preferably with dense vegetation. The invisible rail gets its name because it is both rather shy, and lives and nests in nigh-impenetrable sago palm swamps so people are very highly unlikely to ever spot one, though people might hear its drumming call.
It does not actually get its name because it can't be seen at all. In fact, here's a picture of one:
I've talked about crazy bird names before. Here's one I recently encountered: the invisible rail.
Habroptila wallacii is a flightless rail, part a family of birds that aren't quite waterbirds but do prefer really damp places, preferably with dense vegetation. The invisible rail gets its name because it is both rather shy, and lives and nests in nigh-impenetrable sago palm swamps so people are very highly unlikely to ever spot one, though people might hear its drumming call.
It does not actually get its name because it can't be seen at all. In fact, here's a picture of one:
This would be much funnier if you had posted a picture with no animals in it.
I've talked about crazy bird names before. Here's one I recently encountered: the invisible rail.
Habroptila wallacii is a flightless rail, part a family of birds that aren't quite waterbirds but do prefer really damp places, preferably with dense vegetation. The invisible rail gets its name because it is both rather shy, and lives and nests in nigh-impenetrable sago palm swamps so people are very highly unlikely to ever spot one, though people might hear its drumming call.
It does not actually get its name because it can't be seen at all. In fact, here's a picture of one:
This would be much funnier if you had posted a picture with no animals in it.
MayabirdPecking at the keyboardRegistered Userregular
If people want funny, I'll give you a funny little bird anecdote.
There's a story in Gifts of the Crow by Dr. John Marzluff, about brainy crows using their Theory of Mind against some silly geese. A human silly goose was for some reason feeding Canada geese bread, so the crows covered the bread with leaves so the geese couldn't see it. The geese, being stupid, couldn't find the bread and immediately forgot about it and wandered off leaving the crows to eat the bread at their leisure and/or get satisfaction from having screwed with tiny goose minds.
I just forwarded this to my friend with a DMA in percussion. Told her the last one would've been a good way to make sure no one ever forgot her recitals.
I was reading the Wikipedia article on the Asiatic lion and this paragraph caught my eye
Farmers on the periphery of the Gir Forest frequently use crude and illegal electrical fences by powering them with high voltage overhead power lines. These are usually intended to protect their crops from nilgai, but lions and other wildlife are also killed. Nearly 20,000 open wells dug by farmers in the area for irrigation have also acted as traps, which led to many lions drowning. To counteract the problem, suggestions for walls around the wells, as well as the use of "drilled tube wells" have been made.
Hooking up an electrical fence to an overhead power line is hillbilly as shit
i mean, if you were some guy on the periphery of the gir forest and nilgai were eating the crops your family relied on for survival, i imagine the overhead power lines would start to look pretty good
it's either that or commission adventurers to fetch you twenty nilgai hearts
Ha, I've dealt with some ffffffffs before. It was in high school and the teacher had us all put our instruments on the ground then had us breathe in deeply and blow out quickly like we would be doing while playing to show us how quickly we could get light headed if we over did it.
It was pretty fun.
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MayabirdPecking at the keyboardRegistered Userregular
There's a species in sub-Saharan Africa called the greater honeyguide.
Female, in hand for a quick visual size comparison
Male, a little more colorful
While maybe not the most visually interesting, the honeyguide is known and named for its unique behavior.
Honeyguides are among the few birds that can digest wax. They feed frequently on beehives - bee larvae, eggs, and pupae, and the beeswax honeycomb itself. Sometimes, on a very cool early morning while the bees are sluggish and torpid, they can sneak in to feed, or if a ratel (aka honey badger) just crammed its face in a hive and ate its fill they can scavenge afterward, but the most convenient method is to guide human honey-hunters to the hives themselves, which is where they get their name. Sometimes they seek out people, but in some tribes the honey-hunters have a specific whistle to attract the honeyguides. The honeyguides call out sharp quick notes, and flit along, flashing its tail to show the white spots and grab attention, and bring the human to the hive. The human will drive out the bees with smoke and gather the honey. The honeyguide scavenges larvae and wax afterward, though it's usually traditional among the honey-hunters to leave a chunk of honeycomb out for the birds as a thank you.
A reminder that US money almost became pretty damn sweet
At some point we wanted to base parts of our monetary system on Silver, so the Federal Reserve commissioned several silver bills to be printed. This specific example was ordered by the chief of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for alternate designs, and considered one of the most beautiful designs ever made for US currency within the Educational Series of bills. This ones specific theme is "Electricity as the Dominant Force in the World"
It caused some quick scandal in Boston because of the bare breasts on the allegorical figures since this was 1896 and people had issues with nudity in public art far after this. Then quickly dropped in popularity because when printed the bill was so dark it became difficult for banks to make out counterfeits from genuine bills quickly.
The other side depicts Ulysses S. Grant and Phillip Sheridan, the latter a lesser-regarded Civil War general who was burning down southern houses in the Shenandoah campaigns a while before Sherman became famous for it.
Ah yes, back when the dollar sign was just a stylized U on top of the S. I particularly like that design on the right side with the U curling into the S.
"Simple, real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time." -Mustrum Ridcully in Terry Pratchett's Hogfather p. 142 (HarperPrism 1996)
A reminder that US money almost became pretty damn sweet
At some point we wanted to base parts of our monetary system on Silver, so the Federal Reserve commissioned several silver bills to be printed. This specific example was ordered by the chief of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for alternate designs, and considered one of the most beautiful designs ever made for US currency within the Educational Series of bills. This ones specific theme is "Electricity as the Dominant Force in the World"
It caused some quick scandal in Boston because of the bare breasts on the allegorical figures since this was 1896 and people had issues with nudity in public art far after this. Then quickly dropped in popularity because when printed the bill was so dark it became difficult for banks to make out counterfeits from genuine bills quickly.
The other side depicts Ulysses S. Grant and Phillip Sheridan, the latter a lesser-regarded Civil War general who was burning down southern houses in the Shenandoah campaigns a while before Sherman became famous for it.
I've always felt that the early issue Standing Liberty Quarters are the finest coins the US has minted.
I was going to be dismissive of my parents choosing anything for me, but then I remembered my mother standing in the way of my ambitions to be an olympic swimmer. And an olympic rower. And an olympic gymnast.
... She was really good at crushing the dreams of a six year old. In fairness, I was clearly delusional.
Also in fairness, she never once put her foot down about my ambition to be Wonder Woman. I abandoned that one myself when I realised WW can't fly.
She was really good at crushing the dreams of a six year old. In fairness, I was clearly delusional.
Why? I once knew a lady who was an olympic wrestler.
I'm not saying other people can't be olympic athletes. Clearly, there are many. But she probably had a better handle on my physical prowess than I did.
I was going to be dismissive of my parents choosing anything for me, but then I remembered my mother standing in the way of my ambitions to be an olympic swimmer. And an olympic rower. And an olympic gymnast.
... She was really good at crushing the dreams of a six year old. In fairness, I was clearly delusional.
Also in fairness, she never once put her foot down about my ambition to be Wonder Woman. I abandoned that one myself when I realised WW can't fly.
Years later you watched Justice league and uttered a single " God damnit" when WW first appeared
I have a podcast now. It's about video games and anime!Find it here.
Posts
a potted history of the labour movement in the US, and an examination of the ways in which it could be revived to respond to current gross economic inequalities
It's not a particularly uplifting read.
Habroptila wallacii is a flightless rail, part a family of birds that aren't quite waterbirds but do prefer really damp places, preferably with dense vegetation. The invisible rail gets its name because it is both rather shy, and lives and nests in nigh-impenetrable sago palm swamps so people are very highly unlikely to ever spot one, though people might hear its drumming call.
It does not actually get its name because it can't be seen at all. In fact, here's a picture of one:
This would be much funnier if you had posted a picture with no animals in it.
Facts > funny.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
@Sassori I hit number 7 and thought of you
There's a story in Gifts of the Crow by Dr. John Marzluff, about brainy crows using their Theory of Mind against some silly geese. A human silly goose was for some reason feeding Canada geese bread, so the crows covered the bread with leaves so the geese couldn't see it. The geese, being stupid, couldn't find the bread and immediately forgot about it and wandered off leaving the crows to eat the bread at their leisure and/or get satisfaction from having screwed with tiny goose minds.
But if it was, major points right there.
Hahaha
I love this
This thing is incredible.
Also horrific, but that depends on how far you take it.
I just forwarded this to my friend with a DMA in percussion. Told her the last one would've been a good way to make sure no one ever forgot her recitals.
Hooking up an electrical fence to an overhead power line is hillbilly as shit
And I saw this relief on multiple occasions in London but it's still metal as shit
Also a bit sad
it's either that or commission adventurers to fetch you twenty nilgai hearts
Ha, I've dealt with some ffffffffs before. It was in high school and the teacher had us all put our instruments on the ground then had us breathe in deeply and blow out quickly like we would be doing while playing to show us how quickly we could get light headed if we over did it.
It was pretty fun.
Female, in hand for a quick visual size comparison
Male, a little more colorful
While maybe not the most visually interesting, the honeyguide is known and named for its unique behavior.
Honeyguides are among the few birds that can digest wax. They feed frequently on beehives - bee larvae, eggs, and pupae, and the beeswax honeycomb itself. Sometimes, on a very cool early morning while the bees are sluggish and torpid, they can sneak in to feed, or if a ratel (aka honey badger) just crammed its face in a hive and ate its fill they can scavenge afterward, but the most convenient method is to guide human honey-hunters to the hives themselves, which is where they get their name. Sometimes they seek out people, but in some tribes the honey-hunters have a specific whistle to attract the honeyguides. The honeyguides call out sharp quick notes, and flit along, flashing its tail to show the white spots and grab attention, and bring the human to the hive. The human will drive out the bees with smoke and gather the honey. The honeyguide scavenges larvae and wax afterward, though it's usually traditional among the honey-hunters to leave a chunk of honeycomb out for the birds as a thank you.
For a quick sample of what the call sounds like, you can listen to this Bird Note recording.
This is why the greater honeyguide's scientific name is Indicator indicator.
At some point we wanted to base parts of our monetary system on Silver, so the Federal Reserve commissioned several silver bills to be printed. This specific example was ordered by the chief of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for alternate designs, and considered one of the most beautiful designs ever made for US currency within the Educational Series of bills. This ones specific theme is "Electricity as the Dominant Force in the World"
It caused some quick scandal in Boston because of the bare breasts on the allegorical figures since this was 1896 and people had issues with nudity in public art far after this. Then quickly dropped in popularity because when printed the bill was so dark it became difficult for banks to make out counterfeits from genuine bills quickly.
The other side depicts Ulysses S. Grant and Phillip Sheridan, the latter a lesser-regarded Civil War general who was burning down southern houses in the Shenandoah campaigns a while before Sherman became famous for it.
Because the only thing they have on their mind is murder!
but they're listening to every word I say
I've always felt that the early issue Standing Liberty Quarters are the finest coins the US has minted.
I think my favorite performance direction I ran into was a tempo given as "a little too quickly."
Then there's "gradually become agitated," which I only saw in an impossible joke piece but would really love to see in an actual score someday.
... it's not my favourite piece
It's asking you to scrape your teeth against the reed in an undulating pattern, while simultaneously playing intermediate notes. Of course.
Did you choose to play the clarinet or did your parents choose it for you
I was going to be dismissive of my parents choosing anything for me, but then I remembered my mother standing in the way of my ambitions to be an olympic swimmer. And an olympic rower. And an olympic gymnast.
... She was really good at crushing the dreams of a six year old. In fairness, I was clearly delusional.
Also in fairness, she never once put her foot down about my ambition to be Wonder Woman. I abandoned that one myself when I realised WW can't fly.
Why? I once knew a lady who was an olympic wrestler.
I'm not saying other people can't be olympic athletes. Clearly, there are many. But she probably had a better handle on my physical prowess than I did.
Years later you watched Justice league and uttered a single " God damnit" when WW first appeared