Fresh perspective on camouflage for free-ranging chickens

[Vulpes vulpes]

I had to look it up…the extinction of dinosaurs is the explosion of mammalian diversity though mammals were not nocturnal to begin with. Those visual traits evolved along with ectothermia as a means of avoiding cold-blooded reptiles. So it is an actual bottleneck. That’s my curiosity sorted

Interesting facet to point out, though, is that to our knowledge most dinosaurs were probably warm blooded. I believe it's more that being diurnal is generally more advantageous (milder temps, easier to see) so it's sort of the default. The main reason to become nocturnal is to escape predators/competition(like, say, massive reptiles running around) or to prey on the former (see: owls and bats). By the time that dinosaurs were becoming the dominant lineage, mammals were probably already nocturnal to avoid competition with their fellow synapsids. So while the first animals we'd call mammals were nocturnal, they were simply the only surviving lineage of a much larger group that was probably mostly diurnal. So technically a bottleneck

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Interesting facet to point out, though, is that to our knowledge most dinosaurs were probably warm blooded.

It’s funny. I did some research and field work on fossil site from the upper Triassic as an undergrad but I learned almost nothing about the fossilized creatures from the site. I’m not sure I ever saw them with my own eyes.

The therapods that were dominant at that time filled a niche that was quite rapidly taken over by dinosaurs and at the time (I don’t know where the science is on this now) scientists were trying to piece out exactly what the dinosaurs had that the therapods didn’t. Everyone else working on this site had a PhD and I hadn’t even finished my bachelor’s but it was amazing because they could tell you how the circulatory system of a crocodylomorph (Triassic crocodile ancestor) worked and the skeletal differences between dinosaurs and therapods. But I never absorbed a lick of it because the sedimentology of it was more than enough to keep me busy. I am sure paleontologists have learned a lot since then and there is probably a pretty rigid hypothesis about what exactly happened at that boundary. Now that I am far removed from all that it might be kind of fun to follow the dinosaur-chicken evolutionary line and see how velociraptors turned into Orpingtons (joking because I am not even sure they’re remotely related it just seems likely).

If you can get an idea of how a hawk sees, can you also get an idea of how a chicken sees?

 

[Vulpes vulpes]

If you can get an idea of how a hawk sees, can you also get an idea of how a chicken sees?

In terms of color vision, I believe that all birds are mostly the same, maybe save for nocturnal birds like owls and kiwis (though I haven't done any research into that). Sensitivity to different colors might vary, but chickens and hawks have the same four cones, so they both see the same colors. Visual acuity is probably quite different, since hawks can see insane detail at insane distances. Some birds, including pigeons, can detect polarized light, which allows them to "see" the earth's magnetic field and navigate great distances, but that isn't really a color.

An interesting thing is that aside from ratites, members of the Galloansarae (pheasants, chickens, turkey, waterfowl, etc) are the most basal group of birds alive today. Since hawks belong to Neoaves, which contains 95% of living bird species, there is no living bird aside from ratites that's less related to hawks

 

[mopalia]

Very interesting thread, thanks. I have a friend who had chickens for a while, and he noticed that hawks always got the white ones first. when we had a white rooster that no one wanted to adopt, we named him Bait. But Bait survived and eventually found a good home. Now I have a pure white hen with no sense at all - I wonder how long she will last!

 

[Fluffy-Butts]

This is probably the single most fascinating thread I've seen on chicken protections yet. I'm going to have to dl this app, for sure.
Thank you so much!

 

[Appalachickens]

This is probably the single most fascinating thread I've seen on chicken protections yet. I'm going to have to dl this app, for sure.
Thank you so much!

I agree - I need to go back and re-read the whole thing when my mind is fresher because there is a lot here I want to understand. Aside from an anthropology class and a couple of geology classes as an undergrad, this is totally outside my area of expertise.

 

[Indio Gigante Lover]

Amazing views presented by this software as to how our chickens may look to raptors. A thought entered my mind this AM, while outside watching my reflective "scare tape" flashing in all it's glorious red, blue, silver, white flashes. I haven't had a hawk attack since putting up the tape. They are still making their daily high aerial flights over the neighborhood & I've seen a few land/take off from a high tree in yard occasionally, but no attacks. Maybe just luck, as I've lost a number of young birds to hawks over the years. Never lost an adult, probably because Indio Gigantes are pretty tall & look bigger than they really are as adults.

But this get's me wondering what raptors see with this scare tape? it flashes colors, but do they see the colors, or is it just the constant irregular flashes of light that scares the birds? Anyones thoughts on this?

 

[Vulpes vulpes]

Amazing views presented by this software as to how our chickens may look to raptors. A thought entered my mind this AM, while outside watching my reflective "scare tape" flashing in all it's glorious red, blue, silver, white flashes. I haven't had a hawk attack since putting up the tape. They are still making their daily high aerial flights over the neighborhood & I've seen a few land/take off from a high tree in yard occasionally, but no attacks. Maybe just luck, as I've lost a number of young birds to hawks over the years. Never lost an adult, probably because Indio Gigantes are pretty tall & look bigger than they really are as adults.

But this get's me wondering what raptors see with this scare tape? it flashes colors, but do they see the colors, or is it just the constant irregular flashes of light that scares the birds? Anyones thoughts on this?

Raptors can see more colors than we can, so they probably see it in even more rainbow technicolor than we do

 

[Indio Gigante Lover]

Raptors can see more colors than we can, so they probably see it in even more rainbow technicolor than we do

The software shows the red combs of chickens really muted though. So if correct, I would think the red on the scare tape wouldn't show up much?

 

[Vulpes vulpes]

The software shows the red combs of chickens really muted though. So if correct, I would think the red on the scare tape wouldn't show up much?

The software shows the dichromatic color vision of mammalian predators like foxes, raccoons, dogs, etc. Birds are tetrachromats, so we can't really simulate things from their perspective