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Here is a mystery for the inquisitive reader.
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Following is a picture taken on Campus of an Egyptian goose:
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Careful examination will show that this handsome bird has but one dew claw.
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Who can explain this apparent asymmetry?
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Lanny,
of course you recognize this fine bird:
Lanny,
of course you recognize this fine bird:
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Perhaps you might regale us with your avian acumen and describe the close connection between this bird and his Egyptian cousin above??
Dave Israel
Perhaps you might regale us with your avian acumen and describe the close connection between this bird and his Egyptian cousin above??
Dave Israel
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Oh, puh-leeeze.... This is common knowledge. The dew claw is cut off because this particular Egyptian Goose is a domestic, not wild bird. Let's get beyond the third grade questions, shall we?
ReplyDeleteHi Lanny,
ReplyDeleteJanuary 27, 2014 at 6:16 PM,
Perhaps you can identify the Egyptian Goose dew claw surgeon who is doing all this snipping.
I suggest you look a bit deeper into this matter.
Dave Israel
I was not going to be drawn into this but vets everywhere do Declawing, Dermatology, Dewclaw Removal, etc.
ReplyDeleteHallux! It's called a hallux. Dogs have dew claws.
Breaking a hallux is not uncommon because they don't tend to be attached very well and are easy to catch on something and tear off.
Why is it I never win with him, elaineb?
ReplyDeleteHi Elaine,
ReplyDeleteJanuary 27, 2014 at 7:00 PM,
If you had sat through the High Drama of the Tetro Board of Inquiry hearing,
you would realize my need for a bit of comedy!
Dave Israel
Hi Lanny,
ReplyDeleteJanuary 27, 2014 at 8:45 PM,
Now we are to believe that the parts are falling off birds, because "they are not attached very well"
Now just where are those vets who are snipping off the haloids of our avian friends.
And even if such existed, why would they risk dealing with a goose that hisses and cackles??
Dave Israel
Dave, for comedy go to Blog part 2, the comment box did not take the code here.
ReplyDeleteI'm still laughing at the "dew claw surgeon" reference. It's probably Dr. Snipper and if he is also a surgeon to ducks, he can be found in the Medical Directory listed under "Quacks."
ReplyDeleteAvian acumen. You have me laughing, Dave.
ReplyDeleteThe bird looks like a common moorhen to me, but it could be a purple gallinule (related to the moorhen). I can't see if the bird has the beautiful iridescent coloring of the gallinule. If you visit Wakodahatchee Wetlands, you will see many moorhens, and if you are lucky a purple gallinule or two, often by the shoreline.
If it should be a purple gallinule, at least you have your PURPLE, Dave. That should make you feel good. I have no idea how it would be related to the Egyptian Goose, except that some of these birds interbreed ("hybridize" is the word, I think). Often, however, birds thought to be hybrids are simply products of domestication.
I hardly know what I am talking about, Dave.
Lanny we must take Dave on a dawn trip to Wakodahatchee, we could get him back in time for his daily 12 hrs work for UCO
ReplyDeleteHi Lanny,
ReplyDeleteJanuary 30, 2014 at 1:06 AM,
Clearly, you need a hint, as clearly there is a failure of memory.
So, the correct appellation of this species, is: "African Purple Swamp hen"
Now it should be straight forward for you to connect the phylum and chordate.
Dave Israel
I have a better idea, elaineb. At the other birding boardwalk facility, Green Cay, we can sign him up for one of their nighttime group walks with a tour guide. They are very interesting, for you learn about the nighttime birds such as the night heron, and you hear the noises of the leopard frogs. Can we help it if there is a little splash that gets unnoticed and he appears the next morning at UCO, dripping wet and in a foul (fowl) mood?
ReplyDeleteHi Lanny,
ReplyDeleteNight tour you say! You are of course Au-fait with Haemorhous purpureus, the Night squawking purple finch.
Perhaps you have observed this species?
Dave Israel
"Au fait..." Boy, it's been a long time since I studied French. Where is that dictionary with the foreign phrases? Hmmm.... Means to the point, fully competent, fully informed, socially correct.... I expect he means fully competent or fully informed. Now what was the question? Oh, the purple finch.
ReplyDeleteHello, Dave? Yes, I'm familiar with the purple finch. We saw them occasionally at the bird feeder outside the window when I lived in MA. They are becoming fewer and fewer, I understand. It is the state bird of NH.
It was always interesting to see the difference in the way a finch opened a sunflower seed and the way a chickadee or nuthatch went about it. The "meat" of the black-covered sunflower seed is inside the shell. The chickadee or nuthatch would take one from our feeder and fly to a nearby branch with it. There the bird would hold the seed down firmly with its talons, partly grasping the branch and partly grasping either side of the seed. It would then peck through the center of the seed to get at the meat. The finch didn't need to do this. It could stay on the feeder and with its short, powerful beak simply crush the seed by compression. Finches have this ability.
I'm sorry, I know nothing about the nighttime squawking of the purple finch. Are you sure it was the purple finch you heard and not simply one of our mockingbirds?
There. Fait accompli.
Hi Lanny,
ReplyDeleteFebruary 1, 2014 at 10:03 AM,
This is the sort of mendax flagrante which devolves from attempting to carry on a learned discourse with one whose depth of knowledge is less that minuscule!
The Florida Night Squawking Purple Finch, is of the chordate Carpodacus mexicanus, totally different from the North American species.
Research my dear Watson - research!!
Dave Israel
("One whose depth of knowledge is less than miniscule...." Could he be inferring that I am stupid?.... Well, no matter.)
ReplyDeleteNow see here, Holmes, I listened to a U-Tube recording of Carpodacus Mexicanus, and what you call nighttime squawking sounded like Itzhak Perlman playing the beautiful Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, to me. I say this as your friend, Holmes, but it's your own violin playing that is the "squawk." I might add that Mrs. Hudson is in full agreement and has taken to wearing earplugs. My suggestion would be that you spend a little less time investigating purple-colored birds and more time seeing what that evil genius Professor Moriarty is up to.