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They are related but which comes from the other isn't clear to me. And it's cuckoo. Cookoo is an island named for James Cook after he was introduced to Cocoa Puffs.

It's somewhere between Typee and Omoo if you're looking on a map. I believe Ishmael was stranded there but had a large stash of Cocoa Puffs to live off of when Cook found him.

There were some studies done back when genetic testing was still pretty "advanced;" not sure if more rich data exists at this point as I've been out of the academic fields that are concerned with the question for some time . . . Anyway, studies said something like 15% of all paternity tests revealed "Daddy" could not have been the one donated the sperms. These were studies in the UK I believe.

I'd guess that is toward the low end of the range with populations of misogynistic and fundamentalist theocracies having rates more like 35%.

ORIGINAL: Anthropoid

There were some studies done back when genetic testing was still pretty "advanced;" not sure if more rich data exists at this point as I've been out of the academic fields that are concerned with the question for some time . . . Anyway, studies said something like 15% of all paternity tests revealed "Daddy" could not have been the one donated the sperms. These were studies in the UK I believe.

I'd guess that is toward the low end of the range with populations of misogynistic and fundamentalist theocracies having rates more like 35%.

Well that loose lady Momma Nature intended that there be a lot of gene mixing to ensure survival of species. Who am I to resist her intentions?

Does Uber surge charge for a ride-by shooting?[;)]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

Speaking of mass, Über is testing out self driving cars. Really. An empty car drives up, you get in and it takes you where you're going. What's going to happen if a cop tries to pull one over? Bad things. Errors in judgement. Bigotry against cars with no drivers....

What about road rage shootings? With no driver in the Über car the shooter would be forced to shoot at the passenger!

Über should be required to install bullet proof glass and side panels on all of these things.

Or an auto-automatic rooftop weapon that shoots at the sound of gunshots. People whose cars backfire would get them fixed tout-suite!

<---Eastern Booger Flicker [:'(]

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

Excuuuuse me! That's a Western Flicker. The northern has a red patch on the back of the head, both males and females.




As you can see, the Northern has a black marking coming back from the bill, whereas the Western has a red marking instead. In Bill's pic it looks kinda rusty but if it weren't splashing around in a dirty clogged gutter it should be as bright as the marking on the Northern.

mating calls

That's enough. Go graffiti a different thread.

ORIGINAL: MakeeLearn

mating calls

....so true.... [:D]

This isn't a very good pic, but I was totally unprepared for it. I've never seen an owl in my back yard before. It's night and I just happened to look out the window and saw the silhouette of a large bird fly to my maple tree. I didn't hear a thing. I had the camera set on a tripod too high to get the shot.
I shortened the tripod legs but not enough for the flash to work and out of desperation I shined a flashlight on the bird and took the shot.

I'm not sure but I think that was a Barred Owl. It was certainly large enough.

yes, it's a barred owl

Had a Grey Owl in a tree below my apartment a couple of years ago. There was a flock of about 30 crows that were going NUTS!

They swooped around the tree and generally raised a ruckus. When I mentioned it to a friend who really knows his bird stuff, he said that those owls will go through crow rookeries just as dark is falling and pick off the crows one at a time with their talons. Blood feud!

The owls don't always get the best of it. Blue jays can be pretty fierce as well and act collectively like the crows.

One time Professor Sledge had me up about 50 feet on a ladder in order to get owl pellets from a Barn Owl nest. The owl flew out as I neared the nest and sat in a tree giving us dirty looks till we left. I was promised if I fell they would try to catch me by the 2nd bounce.


If not fed enough a owlet will eat its siblings.

The ears of a owl are offset one higher than the other to enhance their hearing, 3D hearing. This is what allows them to hunt at night, not their eyesight.

A human can approximate this by using their hands cupped on the ears and then twisted into different positions. Very helpful in determining where a sound is comming from.

I like to do owl calls and get them stirred up. When they really get going they sound like monkeys hollering. Except for a barn owl which has a HISSSSSing call and sounds nothing like a owl.

There are currently 2 owls in my neighborhood. One spends the early morning hooting in the tree in my back yard, and the other hooting back at him from the tree in the neighbors yard. BIG buggers, but my camera is not up to getting a picture in the dark.

In a separate note : A large migration occurred out of Toronto Canada area this week.

These birds migrated on mass and "destroyed" a significant area of Arlington Texas [8D]

We had best not crow too soon!!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/ob ... story.html

There's no "fund me" campaign yet but I expect there will be.

ORIGINAL: Macclan5

In a separate note : A large migration occurred out of Toronto Canada area this week.

These birds migrated on mass and "destroyed" a significant area of Arlington Texas [8D]

Word has it that discarded beer cans marked their swath of destruction.