Nature gone Wild

December 28, 2006 10:06 AM

Birds that rap and cows with accents. The big picture is urban adaptation, which is pretty cool. (...and the egg wins.)
posted by ewkpates (17 comments total)

I'm trying the win the award for most consecutive double posts. It's unbelievable.
posted by ewkpates at 10:08 AM on December 28, 2006

More entertaining than human rapping, that is for sure. At least the birds are putting effort into it.
posted by wfc123 at 10:19 AM on December 28, 2006

The BBC's "most emailed" lists have been very strange over the last couple of weeks; this parrot story from 2004 has been up and down the top 5 over the last day or so.
posted by TheDonF at 10:38 AM on December 28, 2006

The chicks dig it
posted by hal9k at 10:40 AM on December 28, 2006

Clearly we need more research on urban tits.
posted by Tacos Are Pretty Great at 11:00 AM on December 28, 2006

I'm doing what I can! I'm just one man!
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:02 AM on December 28, 2006

There is a blackbird (European variety) that comes to our garden that does a fantastic imitation of a car alarm part way through its song.
posted by hardcode at 11:15 AM on December 28, 2006

Blackbird singing
Like a car alarm
In the garden
Partway through your song

You were only wailing
Like an Audi that's been bumped

Blackbird cry
Your imitation of a car alarm
posted by cortex at 11:17 AM on December 28, 2006

Is this all you got? A 2004 parrot story and some bastardized lyrics from a Monkeys song?

Clearly, in the midst of tit popularity, urban adaptation has been forgotten. Where's all the links to cutting edge stories of urban evolution?

I'm leaving the blue to pursue my dream profession of animalist - or whatever it is they call people who study evolution stuff.
posted by ewkpates at 12:14 PM on December 28, 2006

The birds around the library at Temple University would sing Westminster Chimes. Needless to say, the clock there played it.
posted by frecklefaerie at 1:46 PM on December 28, 2006

The cow thing is total bunk.
posted by abcde at 2:27 PM on December 28, 2006

Though not precisely on point, a post that includes rapping birds seems like a good place to insert a reference to a bird singing death metal: Hatebeak.
posted by flarbuse at 2:42 PM on December 28, 2006

The caption in that bird story ruled: "There are an estimated 1.7 million great tit pairs in the UK"
posted by ignignokt at 2:59 PM on December 28, 2006

I'm afraid those English birds have nothing on the lyrebird (google video).
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 3:53 PM on December 28, 2006

I can't believe there were no Holy Grail references made in this thread.
posted by Hands of Manos at 5:43 PM on December 28, 2006

There were mockingbirds that lived in parking garages at my school who could do full imitations of the sequence of the standard parking alarm at the time.
posted by kamikazegopher at 6:11 PM on December 28, 2006

ewkpates, interesting post. It makes sense that animals would adapt their communication to sounds around them. Thanks.
posted by nickyskye at 12:14 PM on December 29, 2006