FUN NATURE
FACTS
Did You Know...
The Cowbird is about the laziest bird of all! How
lazy is
the cowbird? So lazy that the female cowbird does not raise her
own
young! That's right, cowbirds refuse to build their own nests,
incubate
their own eggs or even raise their own young.
Instead, they remove the eggs of other birds from a nest of a different bird and replace the eggs with their own. About 144 bird species are known to have raised baby cowbirds in their nests.
The only bird that never falls for this trick is the American Goldfinch. But this is not because it is so smart, it's because Goldfinch parents feed thistle seed to their young and since this does not provide enough protein in the form of insects to the young cowbirds, they starve to death.
How did cowbirds become this way? Cowbirds learned to follow herds of bison for many miles over the prairies and plains during the summer. By following the herds of bison the cowbirds were able to catch and eat insects that were stirred up by the movement of the bison's feet.
Since the cowbirds became dependent on following the bison around
for
their daily food requirements, they did not have time to stay in one
place
long enough to build nests and care for their young. So the
cowbirds
simply deposited their eggs in the nests of other birds. A form
of
adoption?
Did
You Know...
Who
has not enjoyed watching the antics of a raccoon? What stands out
first to even the casual observer, is the raccoons hands and nimble
fingers.
A raccoon's hands are so nimble that they can remove a coin as thin as
a dime out of a shirt pocket, without even bending its fingers.
Not
only that, they are capable of removing several dimes at a time and
hold
them individually between its fingers. How's that for dexterity?
They seem to take anything that catches their interest and use their hands to touch, manipulate, and rub the item all over. A common observation is that of raccoons taking morsels of food and washing it in water before they eat it. Cleanliness? Not really.
What is mistaken for washing its food is in reality just another way of seeing for the raccoon. A raccoons sensitive hands and finger act as a second pair of eyes. When raccoons are at the edge of a pond or stream searching for crayfish, frogs, minnows and other aquatic treats they use their hands and fingers to probe under rocks and in the mud. When they do this they are feeling their way around more than they are looking for things.
So what's going on here? It seems that water actually increases the sensitivity in the fingers. By taking whatever they find and holding it under water and then turning it all around and feeling it they appear to get a better idea of what it is they are going to eat.
Rather than washing their food, they are seeing the food through
their
fingers!
