The Curious Compendium 2023: Sheep!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Woodpeckers!



Pileated woodpeckers have very large nesting holes that they make, and thus are known to snap telephone poles if they choose it to nest in one! They nearly went extinct in the 19th century, but due to protections they now number 2.6 million birds! They are distinguished from other woodpecker species by drilling slowly at first, speeding up, and then trailing off at the end (other species are more consistent in speed).

[EpicRaptorMan]

I have that pileated woodpecker 3M taped to my wall!

As well as the Ivory Billed one too

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Toucans!



Their tongues are 6 inches long! Even today, we aren't 100% sure what their bill is for. Lastly, I learned a new term; they are monomorphic (meaning that both males and females are colored/patterned the same, cannot be differentiated by phenotype alone).

[sbell]

Is that monomorphism also true under UV light? There's been a number of birds and other organisms that look a certain way to human eyes, but in spectra visible to other groups (birds, fish, bees) patterns become visible.

Not sure if that's true for toucans though.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

@sbell, I don't know the answer to that for certain but I would guess they look a little different to each other in their own spectra. Similar to ravens and crows...

And now we start penguins!


Emperors are the deepest diving birds; 565 meters deep for up to 32 minutes. And we all have seen how they shoot out of the water! Apparently this is because they fill their feather gaps with air gaps which allows for some bouyancy; this is what gives them a boost when returning to the surface.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Mixed penguins!


Yellow-eyed penguins (also called a hoiho by the maori) are some of the tallest out there at 22-31 inches! They are also believed to be some of the oldest penguin species still extant. Penguins as a group evolved about 62 million years ago; this species is the last of its genus, and its population has decreased some 60% since 1996.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Last mixed penguins!

An Adélie penguin colony of 5 million birds can consume as much as 8 million kg (17.6 million lb.) of fish and krill per day! They are also known for a unique behavior of rocking back on their heels and using their tail in a tripod like balancing position.

[BlueKrono]

I was excited for this one! I love (and collect) brush-tailed penguins.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

That's great! I think they are my favorite group too for penguins.

[BlueKrono]

That's great! I think they are my favorite group too for penguins.

Very cool. It seems the larger or more flamboyant species more often draw people's favoritism.

[bmathison1972]

Last mixed? You don't have any little blues yet?

[Saarlooswolfhound]

@BlueKrono, to be completely honest, penguins don't excite me much (like pandas and koalas, I know too much about them to think them cute and feel they get a excessive amount of attention). But I do really like these smaller guys (adelié, little blue, chinstrap, South African...).

@bmathison1972, I have a few little blues there in the family photo; upper left. I would like to buy the pair from the colorata set someday but...

[bmathison1972]

Uggh...how did I miss them?

[Saarlooswolfhound]

They're small, don't sweat it!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Sorry for the delay, I have been traveling.

Ducks and more ducks!

Apparently, male mallards don't quack, only females do. Males make a rasping sound instead. The oldest male mallard recorded in the wild was 27 years and 7 months. This species is well known for hybridizing with other wild and domestic breeds of duck.


Common goldeneye ducks are often called "whistlers" because of the sound their wings make when they fly. They nest in tree holes and the highest from the ground recorded is 43 feet up! Lastly, I red that when they eat crayfish they shake them vigorously until the pincers break off, and them they swallow the rest.

[Sim]

Male mallards do quack, I've experienced them doing it when I've been at a pond with them.

[bmathison1972]

Male mallards do quack, I've experienced them doing it when I've been at a pond with them.

Yes they do; it's not quite the same sound, but still a quack. So do other related ducks. I've read on this forum I think that only mallards quack, but I have heard related ducks quack too, including mottled ducks (although there has been extensive intermixing of mallards and mottled ducks). American black ducks can quack, too. Can't remember off-hand but in the wild I have heard other ducks quack. Not quite the same sound, but still a 'quack' in the broad sense.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

I read that at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website, it surprised me too. I assume this is a case similar to wolves where the general scientific understanding is that wolves do not bark like a dog. Wolves have "barking" vocalizations, but under specific criteria is not considered a true bark. I think this is the case here; and I defer to the ornithology experts. (but between you and me, in layman's terms, most ducks quack!)

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Mute swans!


All mute swans in North America descend from captive animals brought here in the mid 1800s to adorn parks, zoos, and estates; some escaped and established wild breeding populations. There are two "morphs" for these birds; Royal, these chicks are gray in down and have black feet as adults, and Polish, chicks are white downed and adults have pink, brown, or gray feet.

[bmathison1972]

you've quietly established quite a collection of mute swans...