AAAS: "Two of these eggs are impostors. Can you spot them?" A classic mimic is the African cuckoo (Cuculus gularis), which can camouflage their eggs to match the eggs of the unwitting mothers who will end up having to raise the miscreant hatchlings. "But the fork-tailed drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis)—a glossy, red-eyed bird native to southern Africa—isn’t so easily fooled." In a study just pulished in the Proceedings of the Royal Academy B, 'drongo moms can spot the counterfeits with 94% accuracy, despite cuckoo eggs being an almost perfect visual match for their own.' The drongo apparently homes in on subtle variations in color + speckles patterning on the surface of their own eggs + spot the counterfeits. "Each female has a unique egg type, helping her spot impostors with accuracy that outstrips both humans and computer models." In the two drongo clutches in the photograph, the cuckoos failed to accurately replicate the speckled appearance of the other 2 eggs. I guessed wrong. See if you can do better. #parasite #cuckoos #ornithology

In both cases the parasitic egg lies at 4 o'clock. Congratulations if you got it right.

Referenced link: https://phys.org/news/2023-06-uk-cuckoos-unable-adjust-migrations.html
Discuss on https://discu.eu/q/https://phys.org/news/2023-06-uk-cuckoos-unable-adjust-migrations.html

Originally posted by Phys.org / @physorg_com: http://nitter.platypush.tech/physorg_com/status/1671895735057657856#m

UK's #cuckoos unable to adjust migrations to keep up with #climatechange @NHM_London @RSocPublishing https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ibi.12612 https://phys.org/news/2023-06-uk-cuckoos-unable-adjust-migrations.html

The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) has added ten more radio-tagged cuckoos to their Cuckoo Tracking Project. For the first time, it includes three Cuachs (cuckoos in Gaelic) tagged in Ireland. You can donate or sponsor a cuckoo and get regular updates of where all the cuckoos are on their epic migrations to and from Africa.
#Cuckoos #BTO #England #Ireland #Africa #Ornithology #MigatoryBirds #Wildlife #Birds

https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/cuckoo-tracking-project/about-project/updates-our-cuckoos

For a group that loves calling people they don't like "cucks"; the American right is not saying very much at all about #ClarenceThomas and his relationship with #HarlanCrow

#Poor #Cuckoos #ItsNotYou #ItsThe #Cuckolds #AlsoAGoodSitcomTitle

Signs of spring: the first #satellitePhoto of the season is now available for #fieldwork preparation in NW #Greenland - which reminds me of #cuckoos #KievitsEi #CherryBlossom + other #Phenology signs.

https://sternaparadisaea.net/2023/03/14/signs-of-spring/

#December 17, 1770
#OTD Ludwig Van Beethoven, #German #Composer & #Pianist, is #Baptized.

Beethoven loved #Nature. His 6th #Symphony is subtitled #Pastoral.
Each #Movement reflects a #Day in the #Country.
He #Wrote that he wanted the #Music to have an #Effect on the #Soul.

He once told a friend,

"[This is where] I composed the #Scene by the #Brook.
[#Pointing to the #Trees], The #Yellowhammers up there -
and the #Quails, #Nightingales & #Cuckoos - composed with me."

SPOILERS

#Xforce #29

1. Some of my favorite all-time mutants, the woefully underserved #StepfordCuckoos doing a thing that sisters do.

2. #Cerebrax, a sentient cerebro headset, has melded with #Krakoa (and several others) menaces my #Cuckoos. The panel feels familiar but I cannot put my finger on the reference.

#Xmen #comics #EmmaFrost #Marvel #comicbooks

@petewalkden I said to a hotel receptionist on #Mull that it was lovely to hear #cuckoos as we no longer hear them at home. She said that being woken by one in the early hours gave her a slightly jaundiced view of them. Actually disturbed one on a walk and “she (should be he) singeth as she flies” is quite correct.

Happy to be able to spot this Indian Cuckoo (Cuculus micropterus) during a brief visit to Pasir Ris Park, Siingapore, on 4 Dec 2021. It was perched near the mangrove boardwalk, apparently enjoying the attention of photographers and bird watchers there.

This bird is an uncommon migrant to Singapore from Northern Asia.

On iNaturalist [ https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/102461909 ]

#iNaturalist #Nature #Singapore #Photography #Birds #Aves #Cuckoos #Cuculidae

Saw some bird photographers gathered at a spot at Lorong Halus, Singapore, then spotted what they were shooting: a Chestnut-winged Cuckoo (Clamator coromandus). Spotted on 6 Feb 2019. Listed as an uncommon migrant in Singapore.

#iNaturalist #Nature #Photography #Singapore #Birds #Aves #Cuckoos #Cuculidae

On iNaturalist [ https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/20150863 ]