As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Wednesday 4 December 2013

Birds With Bigger 'Badges' Rule the Roost

Dec. 2, 2013 — A New Zealand bird that conspicuously displays its status on the top of its head can provide valuable insight into the social conventions of all creatures, including humans, scientists have found.
Research led by McMaster’s Cody Dey and Jim Quinn shows that the size of the “badge”, a fleshy red wedge extending from the beak and over the forehead of the pukeko, is an accurate indicator of the bird’s status – and that it apparently grows and shrinks in keeping with the bird’s standing in its social group.

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