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Something is up with one of my Mockingbird neighbors...
It's just the start of Autumn. It's also still dark enough outside that the streetlamps are still on.
And yet, I hear a mockingbird, somewhere close -- sounds like he (?) might be in the holly tree just outside my office window.*
He's "Scrolling through" his repertoire of different bird calls -- loudly. But, unlike the "Let me show off my skills & endurance" songs that mockingbirds perform in the spring, this one has no quality that I would consider "Musical." And besides, I can't remember ever hearing any mockingbird call like that after early June.
... And, in the time it's taken me to type this, it's gone quiet, and the streetlamps have gone out.
Still, I hope everything's okay for my feathery neighbors.
*The berries, are full size, now. And are turning a darker shade of green. Before long, they'll be truly red, and ready for their Christmas card closeups.
And yet, I hear a mockingbird, somewhere close -- sounds like he (?) might be in the holly tree just outside my office window.*
He's "Scrolling through" his repertoire of different bird calls -- loudly. But, unlike the "Let me show off my skills & endurance" songs that mockingbirds perform in the spring, this one has no quality that I would consider "Musical." And besides, I can't remember ever hearing any mockingbird call like that after early June.
... And, in the time it's taken me to type this, it's gone quiet, and the streetlamps have gone out.
Still, I hope everything's okay for my feathery neighbors.
*The berries, are full size, now. And are turning a darker shade of green. Before long, they'll be truly red, and ready for their Christmas card closeups.
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This was calling.
The springtime performances, which the cynically-minded biologist narrowly decides is for declaring territory and securing mates... Now that is singing. Each of the calls and sounds from other species (Which, apparently, is not really mimicry, since it fools no one but us humans), during that time, are grouped together in twos threes and (occasionally) fives, to make musical phrases, arranged for contrast and balance (Yes, there have been times when I've applauded a particularly nice composition; personally, I think mockingbirds do with sound what bower birds do with collected objects).
This was not that. I got the distinct impression that this bird was up there shouting "Hey! Hey! Hey!" in half a dozen "languages" as loudly as he could...
Avian nightmare, perhaps?
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I do love cats. And that means loving cats as-they-are, which includes acknowledging their predatory nature. Our cats are confined to the footprint of our house, but there are others who are free-roaming (much to the annoyance of Lily and Daisy).
In the meantime, this reminds me of a science/animal post I meant to make nearly a month ago. Here's a link to the source material for your enjoyment, in the meantime.
http://www.npr.org/2015/09/03/434400838/warning-calls-decoded-squirrels-take-up-bird-alarms-to-foil-the-enemy
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Turns out its more like: Nature: all for one and one for all.
(I know that's not really analogous, but it's a decent rhyme match)
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Humans are capable of being both the most selfish and most altruistic animals ime.
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AlwaysMore often than not, though, counterweights to oversimplifying slogans are beneficial...Oh, dear. I've failed totally to talk like a pirate, today, haven't I?
...Aye?
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I do hope all's okay with your neighbor. They're so cool.
(My mother's friend once taught one to whistle Dixie, and was vastly annoyed when, as a mockingbird would, it did it over, and over, and over again.)
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...
The early mockingbird gets the earworm?
Seriously, even though "Intelligence" in birds seems only to be acknowledged in parrots and corvids, I definitely believe that mockingbirds are at least as sophisticated in "language" and communication.
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BAHAHAHA. YES.
They're pretty awesome. I like your bowerbird comparison - it seems entirely apt. (I heard one once mimic a hawk, trying to frighten away another bird that was harassing it. If I recall correctly, it worked.)
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...Now, the usual explanation for animal calls is that they're just sounds propelled by emotion: fear, anger, pain, sexual arousal, etc.
But, these were mockingbirds targeting crows with their actions, and their "vocalizations" just happened to sound like crows? No way do I buy that it was anything but deliberate.
They were tailoring their message to their audience.
That's language. Period.
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It's one of the reasons I've become increasingly frustrated with the perennial popular science question: "What makes us human?" Every time we're told that we have this special
magical powerattribute that makes us unique among all other life: our ability to reason, learn, make tools, create art (Bower birds), use language, feel emotions, have a sense of justice, plan for the future, remember the past, have altruistic motives, etc. (etc. ... etc. ...), it turns out we're not so unique after all.So why are we so obsessed with having that One Special Gift that puts us On Top?
Humans == the Mary-Sue Species.
....and rant-mode slightly on.
It was pretty entertaining watching people get upset about Homo naledi because of placing their dead together, but every time someone posts an article like that, I'll be over here rubbing my hands together and cackling as their sense of superiority falls apart.
Re: ....and rant-mode slightly more on.
"What unique attribute can we lay claim to that we can use to justify the exploitation of life on this planet?" or, the more slogan-y version: "Whence the might that gives us the right?"
And there will likely always be people who refuse to accept the ultimate (probable) answer: "There is none!"
And also, reducing the "True essence of what makes us fully human" to list of check-boxes (whether that includes 'walks upright,' 'uses language," "can do long division," etc.) means that there will always members of our own species that don't have that "magic pixie dust." And that gives society license to treat them as subhuman...
Re: ....and rant-mode slightly more on.
Re: ....and rant-mode slightly more on.
So I'm chortling with particular glee over the whole: "But -- but -- but -- how could they be smart enough to create such a difficult burial?! Their brains were so small!"
Yeah -- it's what I've been saying all along; There's more to understanding stuff than the hardware. Deal with it.
Re: ....and rant-mode slightly more on.
It's hard even to define software well by giving out a checklist of Things It Should Do - there's always fiddly bits and things that don't quite match, and "what this software should do" is quite a bit easier to define than "which beings do we need to care about," unless you take the obvious-and-very-difficult answer of "all of them, bro."
(And, I don't actually think anybody deserves to be warehoused for life, but that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish.)
Ye-e-s. I'm filing this right in there with "how could [ancient H. sapiens] have built things we, the modern-and-obviously-superior DON'T UNDERSTAND?"
With an extra nose-tweak because H. naledi has the gall to not be H. sapiens. Moo hoo ha ha.
Re: ....and rant-mode slightly more on.
Seriously!!
Like I said, upthread: We are the Mary-Sues of planet Earth:
The newcomers, who insist we're more important than everyone who came before, and everyone loves us (except the EVIL ones, who hate us) just because we're the extra-special sparkly snowflakes.
You want to know what sets humans apart from everything else? My guess is that: we're (probably) the only ones who feel the need to name ourselves "Sapiens."