{"id":941,"date":"2005-05-01T21:43:43","date_gmt":"2005-05-02T02:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agnieszkabiskup.com\/?p=941"},"modified":"2011-05-01T18:32:43","modified_gmt":"2011-05-01T23:32:43","slug":"fresh-findings-about-our-fine-feathered-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agnieszkabiskup.com\/?p=941","title":{"rendered":"fresh findings about our fine feathered friends"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Now that we know that the birds called coots can  count (see story on page 8), <a href=\"http:\/\/agnieszkabiskup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/05\/bird.brain_.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-945\" title=\"bird.brain\" src=\"http:\/\/agnieszkabiskup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/05\/bird.brain_-e1292903311782.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"117\" height=\"158\" \/><\/a>ornithological experts from all over the  globe are trying to identify other hitherto unknown avian talents. One  of the most dedicated researchers is Professor I. M. Byrdbrane, founder  and sole member of the Kittiwake Ornithological Order of Knowledge, also  known as KOOK. Byrdbrane has spent countless (a coot would estimate  more than three) hours in the field, patiently listening to what, he  says, &#8220;the little birds tell me.&#8221; Thanks to careful observation, dogged  persistence, and rampant overuse of cold medicine to ward off a fierce  allergy to feather mites, Byrdbrane has made some amazing discoveries,  which he is reporting in KOOK&#8217;s monthly newsletter, <em>Fowl Play.<\/em> He  writes and edits this publication from a giant nest of twigs, sticks,  and marsh grass he built atop KOOK&#8217;s headquarters, which also happens to  be his garage. (Local authorities are trying to get him down, but  Byrdbrane is refusing, saying his flight feathers haven&#8217;t come in yet.)  Anyway, here are some of his recent findings.<\/p>\n<p>The marbled godwit, with his superb visual acuity, can instantly tell you if your clothes match or not with a nod of his beak.<\/p>\n<p>The kookaburra sits in an old gum tree because he can chew old gum. But, hard as he tries, he can&#8217;t blow bubbles.<\/p>\n<p>The common moorhen, related to the coot, can also count, but only in binary.<\/p>\n<p>The northern bobwhite does not whistle his name &#8220;bobwhite,&#8221; as commonly  thought. Instead, he whistles his name in Elvish, &#8220;Betheneol  Nithrillion.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The tern is sick of people telling him, &#8220;One good tern deserves  another.&#8221; He says the joke wasn&#8217;t funny the first time, and it isn&#8217;t  funny now. (So what if the laughing gull laughs at it &#8212; she&#8217;ll laugh at  anything.)<\/p>\n<p>The masked booby really hates his name and wishes to be called the Masked Avenger from now on.<\/p>\n<h6><em>This article appeared in the May\/June 2005 issue of the children&#8217;s science magazine <\/em>Muse.<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Now that we know that the birds called coots can count (see story on page 8), ornithological experts from all over the globe are trying to identify other hitherto unknown avian talents. One of the most dedicated researchers is Professor &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/agnieszkabiskup.com\/?p=941\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-childrens"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agnieszkabiskup.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agnieszkabiskup.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agnieszkabiskup.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agnieszkabiskup.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agnieszkabiskup.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=941"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/agnieszkabiskup.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1033,"href":"https:\/\/agnieszkabiskup.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941\/revisions\/1033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agnieszkabiskup.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agnieszkabiskup.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agnieszkabiskup.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}