New York Naturalist

That thrush in your backyard is harmonizing with itself.

Birds produce sounds with the syrinx, a two-sided organ that connects to both lungs. The bird can control airflow into either side independently, and the two sides produce different sounds! In many birds, the difference is slight, but thrushes produce totally different sounds with each side of their syrinx, which lets them sing their complex and beautiful songs!

Every few minutes, a dragonfly dives into water and takes off again, turning several forward somersaults as it ascends. The purpose of the behavior? The quick dip cools the insect down, and the loop-the-loops help it dry off by flicking away the water. Learn more during #InsectWeek: https://scim.ag/4ifQEeV

New episode of the Paleo Nerd podcast!

He's a paleo nerd for elephants! Advait Jukar fell in love 💕 with elephants 🐘 as a young child and ended up studying them as a paleontologist!

Did you know:

🐘 Elephants evolved in Africa?
🐘 Tusks are not canines, but incisors?
🐘 Hyrax are cousins of elephants?

Learn more in our newest episode #85:
https://www.paleonerds.com/podcast/advaitjukar

Give me fractal fronds over Kindleberger’s Spiral any day From the coiling patterns of ferns to the Fibonacci sequence of pine cones, the mathematical order of nature is a soothing antidote to our disordered lives

This may be an example of Batesian mimicry where the delicious Downey Woodpecker mimics the distasteful Hairy Woodpecker.  who are you going to believe? Me, or David Sibley?

👯‍♀️ Wearing matching outfits (with ulterior motives).

🪵 Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers are infamously hard to distinguish. Aside from size, they are nearly identical in appearance. However, they aren't closely related, leading scientists to believe that Downy Woodpeckers may have evolved to look like the larger Hairy Woodpeckers in order to avoid aggression from them!

One reason that the Great-crested Flycatcher is among my favorite birds, is its habit of hanging a shed snake skin from its nest hole. And I've seen that in one NYC urban park! What a great bird flex. Here's a free read on the subject.

Snakeskin Isn’t Just a Fashion Statement for Birds (Gift Article) A museum curator with a ladder showed that birds that build cavity-style nests are able to protect their eggs with the skin shed by snakes.

Birding humor...

Happy November!