Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[Rod Paradise]

I like those strategies. Personal order of preference would be:

3, 1, 4, 2

You know the penalty for polygamy though?

More than 1 mother-in-law!!

[Junior Senior]

Yes was going to post more about the life of a dunnock and its promiscuous nature but was on a toilet break at work so left it brief.  Any other pics? I love an identification challenge. I reckon as long as its British or regular visitor and I have a couple of angles to look at I will get it without books or google. In fact, dig up Matthew Kelly and bring back You Bet!

[EvilPie]

I like those strategies. Personal order of preference would be:

3, 1, 4, 2

You know the penalty for polygamy though?

More than 1 mother-in-law!!

I wasn't planning on marrying them!!

[RED-DOG]

Hi Tom. I believe that pic to be a dunnock. Really dont think it's a nightingale.... Sorry

Really?

Bugger!

Your daughter made some mistake there!

Don't be despondent, they seem more interesting than Nightingales anyway:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/grrlscientist/2012/feb/03/5

These are are fairly quiet, unassuming birds. You'll often see them lurking underneath bushes or shuffling around flowerbeds, looking quite boring. But did you know they have riotous sex lives that might make Russell Brand blush?

We often think about birds living perfect lives as if in a Disney movie. They snuggle up together in their nest, have lots of fluffy babies and stay faithful for life, right? Not true, unfortunately.

These birds have adapted to make use of different breeding strategies. Both males and females want make sure their genes are passed on to the next generation. Where food is plentiful, territories need not be so big, and so there's less opportunity for overlap with those of other birds. Where life is tougher, the territories need to be bigger and that means more interaction with other members of its own species.

For females, that may mean mating with more than one male, in the hope that they'll both help rear her chicks.

Clearly, that doesn't suit the males. So before mating, they may try to remove a rival's sperm by pecking the female's rear end (the cloaca - through which both poo and eggs exit) and encourage her to eject it!

However, what works for one pair of dunnocks might not work for another. There are several different strategies they might use:
• A male paired with a female (monogamy)
• More than one male paired with the same female (polyandry)
• A male paired with more than one female (polygyny)
• 'Pairs' with two males and two females (polygynandry)

And it's all going on in your shrubbery...

I know a few birds who behave like that.

[david3103]

Hi Tom. I believe that pic to be a dunnock. Really dont think it's a nightingale.... Sorry

Really?

Bugger!

Your daughter made some mistake there!

Don't be despondent, they seem more interesting than Nightingales anyway:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/grrlscientist/2012/feb/03/5

These are are fairly quiet, unassuming birds. You'll often see them lurking underneath bushes or shuffling around flowerbeds, looking quite boring. But did you know they have riotous sex lives that might make Russell Brand blush?

We often think about birds living perfect lives as if in a Disney movie. They snuggle up together in their nest, have lots of fluffy babies and stay faithful for life, right? Not true, unfortunately.

These birds have adapted to make use of different breeding strategies. Both males and females want make sure their genes are passed on to the next generation. Where food is plentiful, territories need not be so big, and so there's less opportunity for overlap with those of other birds. Where life is tougher, the territories need to be bigger and that means more interaction with other members of its own species.

For females, that may mean mating with more than one male, in the hope that they'll both help rear her chicks.

Clearly, that doesn't suit the males. So before mating, they may try to remove a rival's sperm by pecking the female's rear end (the cloaca - through which both poo and eggs exit) and encourage her to eject it!

However, what works for one pair of dunnocks might not work for another. There are several different strategies they might use:
• A male paired with a female (monogamy)
• More than one male paired with the same female (polyandry)
• A male paired with more than one female (polygyny)
• 'Pairs' with two males and two females (polygynandry)

And it's all going on in your shrubbery...

I know a few birds who behave like that.

errmmm I believe the phrase du jour is "pics or it didn't happen"

[RED-DOG]

So you know how the cells in your body renew themselves as they age?

Well I wonder if that happens to brain cells, and if it does, what happens to the information they contain, and if it doesn't happen to brain cells, why not?

I understand that brain cells do NOT renew, possibly the only cells not to. I have no idea why.
 

I think perhaps brain cells don't renew because we have enough to last us until we reach the end of our reproductive usefulness, say ~ 35 years. Which is all nature cares about.

Don't we reach the upper limit on brain cells as a child and the only thing that changes from then on is the connections?

I donno Mach. After extensive googling this morning, I've discovered that no one really knows wtf happens.

Finally found the answer to the brain cells question.

[technolog]

Don't keep it to yourself then.

[gatso]

yes and no, some do, some don't innit

[RED-DOG]

Don't keep it to yourself then.

What?

[gatso]

sadly tom's memory cells are the ones that don't

[Laxie]

sadly tom's memory cells are the ones that don't

Don't what?

[smashedagain]

I like those strategies. Personal order of preference would be:

3, 1, 4, 2

What's with 2 being last pick.  Would imagine you've been there a time or two

[Machka]

Anyone ever wondered if brain cells regenerate?

[RED-DOG]

I haven't.

[Machka]

Haven't what?