Nearctic Meadow "lark": an icterid ((New Word blackbird), common here and a lovely singer; and African Longclaw, also a bird of savannahs. But HOW? I am sure we will someday figure it out, but I don't have a clue...
The images alternate, starting with a longclaw. And no, they are NOT related- cats and dogs...
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5 comments:
They are both mimicking a highly poisonous, wide-ranging bird that is now extinct.
The body conformation and bill morphology of the two species are noticeably different; however, the plumage colorations are similar. This is a major underlying problem of evolutionary biology and functional ecology: What physical, behavioral and molecular characteristics should the researcher consider in a comparative study? Which are more or less important? Every researcher is uniquely selective and thus, biased: studying some characteristics to the exclusion of others. This skewed selectivity often leads to vastly different conclusions on the relatedness or evolutionary history of biological organisms. An excellent discourse on the evolutionary history of birds and convergent evolution is writer/professor Dr. Feduccia. I highly recommend reading him. I met him once at an AOU convention and he is brilliant. Stacia
Amazing. Just as I am reading this I hear my first Western Meadowlark of the season.
I went to Zimmerman et al. "Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania" to look up Longclaw.
On the same page (Plate 68) there is yet ANOTHER bird with the same appearance - Golden Pipit, Tmetothylacus tenellus.
Hope to see them this summer
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