Let's say you're a baby bird. In particular, you're a chick belonging to
the species Laniocera hypopyrra, a.k.a. cinereous mourner. You hatch
out of your egg and find yourself in a nest up in tree in a rain forest
in Peru. You can't fly. You can only wait for your parents to bring you
food. You are, in other words, easy pickings.
So what might you do to avoid getting snatched up by a predator? Perhaps
you might hold very still so as not to attract attention. If you're a
cinereous mourner, however, this is not what you do. You grow brilliant
orange plumage. You make yourself absurdly easy to see.
No comments:
Post a Comment