Day 1: Yellow-legged tinamou - Crypturellus
noctivagus
The First of Many
The very first skin I measured was this nondescript tinamou
from the shrubby woodland of eastern Brazil. Despite not being the most exciting birds, tinamous are one of the oldest orders of birds in the world. With the ostriches, rheas, emu, cassowaries and kiwis they form the Palaeognathae (‘old jaw’) which arose in the early Cretaceous (120mya). The palaeognaths are the most basal group of modern birds (Neornithes) which means they are in many ways the most ‘primitive’ lineage. However one must be careful when examining basal groups not to confuse ancestral characteristics (plesiomorphy) with more recently derived characteristics (apomorphy). This will be explained more with the ratites.
The Neornithes (‘new birds’) evolved in the early cretaceous from the small group of birds that had recently begun to flourish. At this stage in their early evolution, different bird groups are classified based on anatomical differences and these can seem small and insignificant. However, whilst there may have been multiple species and groups hopping around the feet of dinosaurs, only one went on to be the ancestor of all modern birds.
Tinamous (as well as a few other basal lineages) exhibit a degree of
sexual role reversal where males will incubate the eggs and then rear the
chicks of any female that chooses to lay within his territory. Males are
simultaneously polygynous as they care for multiple broods from multiple
mothers whilst females are sequentially polyandrous, moving from male to male,
leaving a clutch of egg where she wanders.
Day 2: Great spotted kiwi - Apteryx haastii
Taxonomic Curio
Kiwis are just weird. This
was certainly highlighted from measuring their specimens. The wings are virtually
non-existent with the feathers reduced to long down that resembles fur. This condition matches that of many island bird species (rails, crakes, dodos) which, in the absence of terrestrial
predators, have forsaken flight for a permanently grounded existence. Flight is
energetically costly as is the maintenance of flight feathers so these
structures become obsolete in such a relaxed world. This, of course, has deadly
consequences when man introduces predators to island havens whether
intentionally or not.
The second feature that became apparent when measuring
kiwis was the location of the nostril at the tip of the bill which allows them
to detect their invertebrate prey in the soil with their keen sense of smell. Add
to this their whisker-like vibrissae and these skulking, furry brown creatures resemble other terrestrial insectivores from around the world including
hedgehogs, tenrecs and echidnas. This demonstrates the adaptation of a bird
into a normally mammalian niche in a country where mammals (except bats) are
naturally absent.
The great spotted kiwi is one
of five kiwi species which have their own order: the Apterygiformes (‘without wing’).
This particular species which lives on the South Island of New Zealand is the
largest of the group. It was identified as a separate species by Julius von Haast, a German
geologist and museum founder for which the species is named. Haast also lends
his name to the Haast’s eagle, the largest known eagle ever. Weighing up to
15 kg and with a wingspan up to 3 m this huge bird may have terrorised moas and
maoris alike before Europeans came to the land.
Day 3: Orange-footed scrubfowl – Megapodius reinwardt
King of the Hill
The orange-footed scrubfowl
is a charismatic little bird from south-east Indonesia, New Guinea and north
Australia and this was the second time that I had encountered it. I first observed them shuffling through the leaves in
Cairns Botanical Gardens, just before I started my MSc project. It was using its large feet to scrape through the leaf litter in
search of invertebrates. Thereafter it became a regular in the rainforest bird
community, its crest bobbing through the undergrowth and its raucous dawn call
waking me up earlier than strictly necessary.
Scrubfowl are a member of the
Megapodidae (‘large foot’) which inhabit the forests of SE Asia and
Australasia. This group have the peculiar habit of building mounds of
vegetation or sand. The mounds act as large incubators using the heat from the
decaying vegetation (alternatively solar or geothermal) to warm their
eggs. It was surprising to see these tumuli amongst the trees, much bigger than the birds themselves.
The megapodes mark my first
day working with the Galliformes (‘chicken-shape’), an order which includes
turkeys, grouse, partridges and pheasants. Galliformes
are partnered with the Anseriformes (ducks, swans and geese) in the clade
Galloanserae. The Galloanserae are the first offshoot of the huge group of
birds called the Neognathae (‘new jaw’). From now on, all species listed will
be neognaths (except when Nico and I get around to measuring the large ratites
which are housed separately).
Day 4: Wild turkey – Meleagris gallopavo
40 days until Christmas!
One species that everyone will instantly recognise is the turkey although people are probably more accustomed to seeing it stuffed and served up on a platter than displaying in the woodlands of North America (or in a museum collection for that matter). The nominate subspecies M. g. gallopavo was domesticated in Mesoamerica at least 2,000 years ago where it was associated with the Aztec trickster god Tetzcatlipoca.
Turkeys were brought to Europe by the Spanish in the 16th century along with a whole swathe of other resources (imagine Christmas without roast potatoes as well!). Introduced to the English palate by the navigator William Strickland, the turkey soon became the poultry of the rich until the late 19th Century. Indeed, it was a sign of his recently reformed generosity when Ebenezer Scrooge instructed Bob Cratchit to purchase a Turkey on Christmas Day rather than a goose.
Nowadays turkey is obviously accessible to everyone and Bernard Matthews currently produces nearly seven million birds each year! Turkey Twizzlers became a matter of contention when Jamie Oliver used them to highlight the unhealthiness of processed foods in schools. It is a pity that such mighty birds should be reduced to so little!
